Challenges in Optimal Control of Nonlinear PDE-Systems

The workshop focussed on various aspects of optimal control problems for systems of nonlinear partial differential equations. In particular, discussions around keynote presentations in the areas of optimal control of nonlinear/non-smooth systems, optimal control of systems involving nonlocal operators, shape and topology optimization, feedback control and stabilization, sparse control, and associated numerical analysis as well as design and analysis of solution algorithms were promoted. Moreover, also aspects of control of fluid structure interaction problems as well as problems arising in the optimal control of quantum systems were considered

On quantitative hypocoercivity estimates based on Harris-type theorems

This review concerns recent results on the quantitative study of convergence towards the stationary state for spatially inhomogeneous kinetic equations. We focus on analytical results obtained by means of certain probabilistic techniques from the ergodic theory of Markov processes. These techniques are sometimes referred to as Harris-type theorems. They provide constructive proofs for convergence results in the $L^1$ (or total variation) setting for a large class of initial data. The convergence rates can be made explicit (both for geometric and sub-geometric rates) by tracking the constants appearing in the hypotheses. Harris-type theorems are particularly well-adapted for equations exhibiting non-explicit and non-equilibrium steady states since they do not require prior information on the existence of stationary states. This allows for significant improvements of some already-existing results by relaxing assumptions and providing explicit convergence rates. We aim to present Harris-type theorems, providing a guideline on how to apply these techniques to the kinetic equations at hand. We discuss recent quantitative results obtained for kinetic equations in gas theory and mathematical biology, giving some perspectives on potential extensions to nonlinear equations.Comment: 40 pages, typos are corrected, new references are added and structure of the paper has change

Odd elastohydrodynamics: non-reciprocal living material in a viscous fluid

Motility is a fundamental feature of living matter, encompassing single cells and collective behavior. Such living systems are characterized by non-conservativity of energy and a large diversity of spatio-temporal patterns. Thus, fundamental physical principles to formulate their behavior are not yet fully understood. This study explores a violation of Newton's third law in motile active agents, by considering non-reciprocal mechanical interactions known as odd elasticity. By extending the description of odd elasticity to a nonlinear regime, we present a general framework for the swimming dynamics of active elastic materials in low-Reynolds-number fluids, such as wave-like patterns observed in eukaryotic cilia and flagella. We investigate the non-local interactions within a swimmer using generalized material elasticity and apply these concepts to biological flagellar motion. Through simple solvable models and the analysis of {\it Chlamydomonas} flagella waveforms and experimental data for human sperm, we demonstrate the wide applicability of a non-local and non-reciprocal description of internal interactions within living materials in viscous fluids, offering a unified framework for active and living matter physics.Comment: 18 pages, 9 figure

Allee optimal control of a system in ecology

International audienceThe Allee threshold of an ecological system distinguishes the sign of population growth either towards extinction or to carrying capacity. In practice human interventions can tune the Allee threshold for instance thanks to the sterile male technique and the mating disruption. In this paper we address various control objectives for a system described by a diffusion-reaction equation regulating the Allee threshold, viewed as a real parameter determining the unstable equilibrium of the bistable nonlinear reaction term. We prove that this system is the mean field limit of an interacting system of particles in which individual behaviours are driven by stochastic laws. Numerical simulations of the stochastic process show that population propagations are governed by wave-like solutions corresponding to traveling solutions of the macroscopic reaction-diffusion system. An optimal control problem for the macroscopic model is then introduced with the objective of steering the system to a target traveling wave. The relevance of this problem is motivated by the fact that traveling wave solutions model the fact that bounded space domains reach asymptotically an equilibrium configuration. Using well known analytical results and stability properties of traveling waves, we show that well-chosen piecewise constant controls allow to reach the target approximately in sufficiently long time. We then develop a direct computational method and show its efficiency for computing such controls in various numerical simulations. Finally we show the efficiency of the obtained macroscopic optimal controls in the microscopic system of interacting particles and we discuss their advantage when addressing situations that are out of reach for the analytical methods. We conclude the article with some open problems and directions for future research

[Book of abstracts]

USPCAPESCNPqFAPESPICMC Summer Meeting on Differential Equations (2016 São Carlos