title: Optimal control of transitions between nonequilibrium steady states.
abstract: Biological systems fundamentally exist out of equilibrium in order to preserve organized structures and processes. Many changing cellular conditions can be represented as transitions between nonequilibrium steady states, and organisms have an interest in optimizing such transitions. Using the Hatano-Sasa Y-value, we extend a recently developed geometrical framework for determining optimal protocols so that it can be applied to systems driven from nonequilibrium steady states. We calculate and numerically verify optimal protocols for a colloidal particle dragged through solution by a translating optical trap with two controllable parameters. We offer experimental predictions, specifically that optimal protocols are significantly less costly than naive ones. Optimal protocols similar to these may ultimately point to design principles for biological energy transduction systems and guide the design of artificial molecular machines.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patrick R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Zulkowski
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems and Synthetic Biology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Sivak
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America ; Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: DeWeese
mesh_terms: D008962:Models, Theoretical; D052898:Optical Tweezers; D017354:Point Mutation; D013816:Thermodynamics