Information-Theoretic Limits of Control

Fundamental limits on the controllability of physical systems are discussed in the light of information theory. It is shown that the second law of thermodynamics, when generalized to include information, sets absolute limits to the minimum amount of dissipation required by open-loop control. In addition, an information-theoretic analysis of closed-loop control shows feedback control to be essentially a zero sum game: each bit of information gathered directly from a dynamical systems by a control device can serve to decrease the entropy of that system by at most one bit additional to the reduction of entropy attainable without such information (open-loop control). Consequences for the control of discrete binary systems and chaotic systems are discussed.