Thermodynamic cost of finite-time stochastic resetting

Abstract

Recent experiments have implemented resetting by means of an external trap, whereby a system relaxes to the minimum of the trap and is reset in a finite time. In this work, we set up and analyze the thermodynamics of such a protocol. We present a general framework, valid even for non-Poissonian resetting, that captures the thermodynamic work required to maintain a resetting process up to a given observation time, and exactly calculate the moment generating function of this work. Our framework is valid for a wide range of systems, the only assumption being relaxation to equilibrium in the resetting trap. Examples and extensions are considered. In the case of Brownian motion, we investigate optimal resetting schemes that minimize work and its fluctuations, the mean work for arbitrary switching protocols, and comparisons to previously studied resetting schemes. Numerical simulations are performed to validate our findings. © 2024 authors. Published by the American Physical Society.