Mathematics Colloquium

Upcoming Colloquium

Schrödinger Bridges and Monge Cycles: From thermodynamics to ensemble control and back
Dr. Tryphon Georgiou, UC Irvine

October 30, 2026
12:00pm-1:00pm in FO3-200A

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Abstract

In this talk I will connect the dots and provide an integrated perspective of some knitted topics at the confluence of thermodynamics, stochastic control, and optimization. In particular, we will traverse bridges and cycles in the space of probability distributions, explain their significance in the context of simultaneously steering a collection of dyanmical systems, regulating uncertainty in flow fields and in the response of dynamical systems, in control and estimation of reaction-diffusion dynamics, and lastly, non-equilibrium thermodynamics. In the last topic, our framework has enabled us to quantify the power that a thermal engine can draw out of a thermal gradient.

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Tryphon T. Georgiou is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Irvine, and a Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.  While at the University of Minnesota, he held the Vincentine Hermes-Luh Chair (2002-2016) and served as a co-director of the Center for Control Science and Dynamical Systems at the University of Minnesota (1990-2016). Professor Georgiou is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA).