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Autori principali: Welker, Till, Pietzonka, Patrick
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2026
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Accesso online:https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13173
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author Welker, Till
Pietzonka, Patrick
author_facet Welker, Till
Pietzonka, Patrick
contents How much work does it cost for a propelled particle to stay localised near a stationary target, defying both thermal noise and a constant flow that would carry it away? We study the control of such a particle in finite time and find optimal protocols for time-dependent swim velocity and diffusivity, without feedback. Accuracy, quantified via the mean squared deviation from the target, and energetic cost turn out to be related by a trade-off, which complements the one between precision and cost known in stochastic thermodynamics. We show that accuracy better than a certain threshold requires active driving, which comes at a cost that increases with accuracy. The optimal protocols have discontinuous swim velocity and diffusivity, switching between a passive drift state with vanishing diffusivity and an active propulsion state. This study highlights how a time-dependent diffusivity enhances optimal control and sets benchmarks for cost and accuracy of artificial self-propelled particles navigating noisy environments.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_13173
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Accuracy Comes at a Cost: Optimal Localisation Against a Flow
Welker, Till
Pietzonka, Patrick
Statistical Mechanics
How much work does it cost for a propelled particle to stay localised near a stationary target, defying both thermal noise and a constant flow that would carry it away? We study the control of such a particle in finite time and find optimal protocols for time-dependent swim velocity and diffusivity, without feedback. Accuracy, quantified via the mean squared deviation from the target, and energetic cost turn out to be related by a trade-off, which complements the one between precision and cost known in stochastic thermodynamics. We show that accuracy better than a certain threshold requires active driving, which comes at a cost that increases with accuracy. The optimal protocols have discontinuous swim velocity and diffusivity, switching between a passive drift state with vanishing diffusivity and an active propulsion state. This study highlights how a time-dependent diffusivity enhances optimal control and sets benchmarks for cost and accuracy of artificial self-propelled particles navigating noisy environments.
title Accuracy Comes at a Cost: Optimal Localisation Against a Flow
topic Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.13173