Numerical simulation of optimal transport paths

Transport networks with branching structures are observable not only in nature as in trees, blood vessels, etc. but also in efficiently designed transport systems such as used in railway configurations and postage delivery networks. Mathematically, such a branching transport network is modeled by an optimal transport path between two probability measures (representing the source and the target). An essential feature of such a transport path is to favor group transportation in a large amount. This article provides numerical simulation of optimal transport paths. We first construct an initial transport path, and then modify the path as much as possible by using both local and global minimization algorithms.