Minimum time connection between non-equilibrium steady states: the Brownian gyrator

Abstract We study the problem of minimising the connection time between non-equilibrium steady states of the Brownian gyrator. This is a paradigmatic model in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, an overdamped Brownian particle trapped in a two-dimensional elliptical potential, with the two degrees of freedom ( x , y ) coupled to two, in principle different, thermal baths with temperatures T x and T y , respectively. Application of Pontryagin’s Maximum Principle reveals that shortest protocols belong to the boundaries of the control set defined by the limiting values of the parameters ( k , u ) characterising the elliptical potential. We identify two classes of optimal minimum time protocols, i.e. brachistochrones: (i) regular bang–bang protocols, for which ( k , u ) alternatively take their minimum and maximum values allowed, and (ii) infinitely degenerate singular protocols. We thoroughly investigate the minimum connection time over the brachistochrones in the limit of having infinite capacity for compression. A plethora of striking phenomena emerge: sets of states attained at null connection times, discontinuities in the connection time along adjacent target states, and the fact that, starting from a state in which the oscillators are coupled, uncoupled states are impossible to reach in a finite time.