Alessio Figalli studies optimal transport, a field of math that ranges from the movements of clouds to the workings of chatbots. By Siobhan Roberts The words “optimal” and “optimize” derive from the ...

Optimal transport theory provides a rigorous framework for comparing and transforming probability distributions by minimising a cost function associated with “moving” mass from one configuration to ...

Many natural systems involve structures shaped by competing forces: efficiency, randomness, and incomplete information. To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no robust method to assess the ...

Joint research led by Sosuke Ito of the University of Tokyo has shown that nonequilibrium thermodynamics, a branch of physics that deals with constantly changing systems, explains why optimal ...