arXiv Machine Learning September 15, 2026 By Emmy Blumenthal, Nikolas Claussen, Benjamin Eysenbach, Catherine Ji, Gautam Reddy, Colin Scheibner, Benjamin Sorkin

Bridging Control, Inference, Transport, and Thermodynamics: From Theory to Applications in Learning

Read the original on arXiv Machine Learning →

The review explores how control theory, optimal transport, probabilistic inference, non‑equilibrium thermodynamics, and machine learning are interconnected through the optimization of free‑energy‑like functionals under dynamical or statistical constraints. It presents a conceptual thread linking these five fields and illustrates the ideas with applications in reinforcement learning, variational inference, and generative modeling. The article is written for readers without prior familiarity, beginning with physics principles.

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