Rule 184 — Traffic Flow

Wolfram's Rule 184: exact solution of TASEP · jam waves travel backward

0.40
20
Rule 184: 111→1, 110→0, 101→1, 100→1, 011→1, 010→0, 001→0, 000→0  |  v̄ = max(0, 1−ρ/ρ_c)
ρ = 0.40 | Flow J = 0.00 | Phase: free
Rule 184 is the simplest cellular automaton model of traffic. Cars (cells=1) move right if the cell ahead is empty. At ρ < 0.5 (free phase): cars flow freely, backward-propagating gaps. At ρ > 0.5 (jammed): backward-propagating traffic jams. ρ = 0.5 is the critical point — maximum throughput J = 0.25. Space-time diagram shows history.