Exact Shock Solution of a Coupled System of Delay Differential Equations: A Car-Following Model

Abstract

In this letter, we present exact shock solutions of a coupled system of delay differential equations, which was introduced as a traffic-flow model called car-following model. We use the Hirota method, originally developed in order to solve soliton equations. The relevant delay differential equations have been known to allow exact solutions expressed by elliptic functions with periodic boundary conditions. In the present work, however, shock solutions are obtained with open boundaries, representing the stationary propagation of a traffic jam.