Dissipation and Control in Microscopic Nonequilibrium Systems

This thesis establishes a multifaceted extension of the deterministic control framework that has been a workhorse of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, to shastic, discrete, and autonomous control mechanisms. This facilitates the application of ideas from shastic thermodynamics to the understanding of molecular machines in nanotechnology and in living things. It also gives a scale on which to evaluate the nonequilibrium energetic efficiency of molecular machines, guidelines for designing...