Detours and Shortcuts Outside Equilibrium

International Workshop
15 - 19 February 2027

There are many routes by which a system can approach equilibrium or a steady state. Over the past decade, theory and experiment have revealed that the associated dynamics can be remarkably rich and counterintuitive. Systems prepared farther from a target may reach it sooner. Memory can steer their evolution, while initial-state engineering can select the dynamical modes that govern relaxation.

The Mpemba effect is the best-known manifestation of a broader family of anomalous relaxation phenomena spanning classical and quantum systems. Despite their diversity, these effects point to a unifying idea: relaxation pathways can be harnessed as a resource for reaching target states more efficiently. This perspective naturally connects with nonequilibrium control, which offers complementary strategies for steering systems toward such states while optimizing the resources required.

DaSh27 will bring together two complementary communities: researchers who have driven advances in anomalous relaxation across classical and quantum systems, and experts in control and information theory. Leading researchers from adjacent fields will broaden this exchange and provide natural bridges to new domains. By fostering interactions among these perspectives, the workshop aims to catalyze new interdisciplinary directions. The broader goal is to turn fundamental insights into practical, experimentally viable tools for state preparation and control.

• anomalous relaxation
• Mpemba and Kovacs effects
• memory and aging
• metastability
• thermalization
• slow-mode control
• state preparation
• shortcuts to adiabaticity
• optimal and feedback control
• reservoir engineering
• information thermodynamics
• resources, speed limits and costs