Information-Theoretic Limits of Control

Fundamental limits on the controllability of physical systems are discussed in the light of information theory. It is shown that the second law of thermodynamics, when generalized to include information, sets absolute limits to the minimum amount of dissipation required by open-loop control. In addition, an information-theoretic analysis of control systems shows feedback control to be a zero sum game: each bit of information gathered from a dynamical system by a control device can serve to decrease the entropy of that system by at most one bit additional to the reduction of entropy attainable without such information. Consequences for the control of discrete state systems and chaotic maps are discussed.