Benchmark control problems in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Stephen Whitelam; Corneel Casert; Megan Engel; Isaac Tamblyn

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arXiv · 2506.15122

Benchmark control problems in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Stephen Whitelam·Corneel Casert·Megan Engel·Isaac Tamblyn

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Abstract

We present a set of computer codes designed to test methods for optimizing time-dependent control protocols in fluctuating nonequilibrium systems. Each problem consists of a stochastic model, an optimization objective, and C++ and Python implementations that can be run on Unix-like systems. These benchmark systems are simple enough to run on a laptop, but challenging enough to test the capabilities of modern optimization methods. This release includes five problems and a worked example. The problem set is called NESTbench25, for NonEquilibrium STatistical mechanics benchmarks (2025).

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Stephen Whitelam, Corneel Casert, Megan Engel, Isaac Tamblyn. 2025-06-18. Benchmark control problems in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.15122

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