Related papers: Feedback Control and the Arrow of Time

The subject of controlling quantum systems is not new, but concepts that have been introduced in the last decade and a half, especially that of coherent feedback, suggest new questions that broaden and deepen the field. Here we provide a…

The Pyragas method of feedback control has attracted much interest as a method of stabilising unstable periodic orbits in a number of situations. We show that a time-delayed feedback control similar to the Pyragas method can be used to…

The nature of time has beguiled philosophers for nearly three millennia. There are myriad types of time including cosmological time, biological time, psychological time, physical time, historical time, and even theological time. My brief…

This paper presents a novel approach for steering the state of a stochastic control-affine system to a desired target within a finite time horizon. Our method leverages the time-reversal of diffusion processes to construct the required…

The performance, reliability, cost, size and energy usage of computing systems can be improved by one or more orders of magnitude by the systematic use of modern control and optimization methods. Computing systems rely on the use of…

Symmetry properties of the evolution equation and the state to be controlled are shown to determine the basic features of the linear control of unstable orbits. In particular, the selection of control parameters and their minimal number are…

This paper investigates the influence of extra dimensions on the nature of the arrow of time. We demonstrate that the observed arrow of time can be explained by the monotonic growth of the multidimensional manifold's volume. Unlike…

Duality between estimation and control is a foundational concept in Control Theory. Most students learn about the elementary duality -- between observability and controllability -- in their first graduate course in linear systems theory.…

One of the most important branches of nonlinear control theory is the so-called sliding-mode. Its aim is the design of a (nonlinear) feedback law that brings and maintains the state trajectory of a dynamic system on a given sliding surface.…

It is brought forward that viable theories of the physical world that have no variable at all that can play the role of time, do not exist; some notion of time is one of the very first ingredients a candidate theory should possess. Almost…

Time is a valuable resource and it seems intuitive that longer time should lead to better precision in Hamiltonian parameter estimation. However recent studies have put this intuition into question, showing longer time may even lead to…

We study the role of time-reversal symmetry on the dynamical response of nonlinear optical systems that behave as unidirectional ("one-way") devices. It is shown that lossless nonlinear materials, despite being nonreciprocal, are typically…

This essay offers a meta-level analysis in the sociology and history of physics in the context of the so-called "Arrow of Time Problem" or "Two Times Problem," which asserts that the empirically observed directionality of time is in…

Scientific discussions of the arrow of time often get quite confusing due to highly complex systems they deal with. Popular literature then often coveys messages that tend to get lost in translation. The purpose of this note is to demystify…

In this paper we consider time-optimal control problems for systems with backlash. Such systems are described by second order differential equations coupled with restrictions modeling the inelastic shocks. A main feature of such systems is…

The paper is devoted to a design of a common bounded feedback control steering a system of an arbitrary number of linear oscillators to the equilibrium. At high energies, the control is based on the asymptotic theory of reachable sets of…

According to recent results, convergence in a prespecified or prescribed finite time can be achieved under extreme model uncertainty if control is applied continuously over time. This paper shows that this extreme amount of uncertainty…

Almost sure asymptotic stabilization of a discrete-time switched stochastic system is investigated. Information on the active operation mode of the switched system is assumed to be available for control purposes only at random time…

Quantum gravity, the initial low entropy state of the Universe, and the problem of time are interlocking puzzles. In this article, we address the origin of the arrow of time from a cosmological perspective motivated by a novel approach to…

We consider a robust stabilization of the fourth-order oscillatory systems with non-collocated output sensing. Worth recalling is that the fourth-order systems are relatively common in mechatronics as soon as there are two-mass or more…