Speaker: Marco Baldovin
Title: Control and optimization in stochastic thermodynamics

Abstract:
Control of stochastic systems is a challenging open problem in statistical 
physics, with a wealth of potential applications from biology to granulates. Given a 
system whose stochastic dynamics is ruled by an externally-tunable driving 
parameter, the goal is to find control protocols to reach a target state in a given 
finite time. Provided that this task can be accomplished, the problem of finding the 
protocol that also minimises a given cost function can be addressed.

Relevant examples of control problems in stochastic thermodynamics are presented. 
Specifically, the pardigmatic case of an Active Brownian Particle in harmonic 
confining potential shows that control problems can also be faced in genuinely 
out-of-equilibrium systems. Perspectives on open problems for underdamped dynamics 
are discussed.

[1] D. Guéry-Odelin et al 2023 Rep. Prog. Phys. 86 035902
[2] M. Baldovin, D. Guéry-Odelin, E. Trizac 2022 Phys. Rev. E 106, 054122
[3] M. Baldovin, D. Guéry-Odelin, E. Trizac 2023 Phys. Rev. Lett. 131, 118302