Benchmarks for protocol control in nonequilibrium statistical mechanics

Abstract: We present a set of computer codes designed to test methods for optimizing time-dependent control protocols in fluctuating nonequilibrium systems. Each problem consists of a stochastic model, an optimization objective, and C++ and Python implementations that can be run on Unix-like systems. These benchmark systems are simple enough to run on a laptop, but challenging enough to test the capabilities of modern optimization methods. This release includes five problems and a worked example. The problem set is called NESTbench25, for NonEquilibrium STatistical mechanics benchmarks (2025).