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The realization of efficient micro-machines built from active matter requires precise thermodynamic control far from equilibrium. Despite theoretical progress, the focus on single-parameter driving, coupled with strict theoretical…

Soft Condensed Matter · Physics 2026-03-18 Luke K. Davis

We propose an optimization strategy to control the dynamics of a stochastic system transferred from one thermal equilibrium to another and apply it experimentally to a Brownian particle in an optical trap under compression. Based on a…

We study the time-optimal robust control of a two-level quantum system subjected to field inhomogeneities. We apply the Pontryagin Maximum Principle and we introduce a reduced space onto which the optimal dynamics is projected down. This…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2025-09-03 O. Fresse-Colson , S. Guérin , Xi Chen , D. Sugny

We study the elementary problem of moving an active particle by a trap with minimum work input. We show analytically that (open-loop) optimal protocols are not affected by activity, but work fluctuations are always increased. For…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-07-10 Rosalba Garcia-Millan , Janik Schüttler , Michael E. Cates , Sarah A. M. Loos

Optimization of cyclic stochastic heat engines, a topic spanning decades of research, commonly assumes fixed control or response parameters at discrete points in the cycle-a limitation that often leads to experimentally impractical…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-07-02 Monojit Chatterjee , Viktor Holubec , Rahul Marathe

In this paper, we derive first-order Pontryagin optimality conditions for risk-averse stochastic optimal control problems subject to final time inequality constraints, and whose costs are general, possibly non-smooth finite coherent risk…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2023-05-30 Riccardo Bonalli , Benoît Bonnet

This paper studies the decay of an objective functional using a new control technique within Pontryagin's framework. Convergence analysis is carried out on the infinite-dimensional space of Tokamak plasma dynamical state as described by…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-11-10 Slim Jmal , Matteo Tacchi-Bénard , Emmanuel Witrant

We study the problem of minimising the connection time between non-equilibrium steady states of the Brownian Gyrator. This is a paradigmatic model in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, an overdamped Brownian particle trapped in a…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2025-03-25 A. Patrón , C. A. Plata , A. Prados

Incorporating force bounds is crucial for realistic control implementations in physical systems. Here, we investigate the fastest possible synchronisation of a Li\'enard system to its limit cycle using a bounded external force. To tackle…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2025-12-29 C. Ríos-Monje , C. A. Plata , D. Guéry-Odelin , A. Prados

In this study, we consider an optimal control problem driven by a stochastic differential equation with state constraints. Here, the state constraints mean the constraints about the path of state. In order to show the maximum principe for…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2018-04-23 Shuzhen Yang

We optimize finite-time stochastic heat engines with a periodically scaled Hamiltonian under experimentally motivated constraints on the bath temperature $T$ and the scaling parameter $\lambda$. We present a general geometric proof that…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2022-11-28 Zhuolin Ye , Federico Cerisola , Paolo Abiuso , Janet Anders , Martí Perarnau-Llobet , Viktor Holubec

The pursuit of achieving the maximum power in microscopic thermal engines has gained increasing attention in recent studies of stochastic thermodynamics. We employ the optimal control theory to study the performance of Brownian heat engines…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2024-10-31 Jin-Fu Chen , H. T. Quan

This paper revisits the classical problem of representing a thermal bath interacting with a system as a large collection of harmonic oscillators initially in thermal equilibrium. As is well known the system then obeys an equation, which in…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2018-04-04 Erik Aurell

A formalism based on Pontryagin's maximum principle is applied to determine the time-optimal protocol that drives a general initial state to a target state by a Hamiltonian with limited control, i.e., there is a single control field with…

Quantum Physics · Physics 2020-02-19 Chungwei Lin , Dries Sels , Yebin Wang

Frictionless atom cooling in harmonic traps is formulated as a time-optimal control problem and a synthesis of optimal controlled trajectories is obtained. This work has already been used to determine the minimum time for transition between…

Optimization and Control · Mathematics 2016-11-17 Dionisis Stefanatos , Heinz Schaettler , Jr-Shin Li

The selection of an equilibrium state by maximising the entropy of a system, subject to certain constraints, is often powerfully motivated as an exercise in logical inference, a procedure where conclusions are reached on the basis of…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2015-12-03 Ian J. Ford

Brownian particles interacting sequentially with distinct temperatures and driving forces at each stroke have been tackled as a reliable alternative for the construction of engine setups. However they can behave very inefficiently depending…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2022-12-28 Iago N. Mamede , Angel L. L. Stable , C. E. Fiore

We study the dynamics of a trapped, charged Brownian particle in presence of a time dependent magnetic field. We calculate work distributions for different time dependent protocols. In our problem thermodynamic work is related to variation…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2009-11-13 Arnab Saha , A. M. Jayannavar

In this paper, we present a framework for solving continuous optimal control problems when the true system dynamics are approximated through an imperfect model. We derive a control strategy by applying Pontryagin's Minimum Principle to the…

Systems and Control · Electrical Eng. & Systems 2026-03-31 Panagiotis Kounatidis , Andreas A. Malikopoulos

Starting from the stochastic thermodynamics description of two coupled underdamped Brownian particles, we showcase and compare three different coarse-graining schemes leading to an effective thermodynamic description for the first of the…

Statistical Mechanics · Physics 2020-02-20 Tim Herpich , Kamran Shayanfard , Massimiliano Esposito