Biography
We continually make choices – choices that guide and shape how we change the world around us. If we break the world down into manageable, meaningful partitions, we identify systems; and if we think carefully about our choices, we design these systems. Science (natural) and engineering (created) systems offer great challenges to designing choices due to their inherent complexity – the options are many, and those that improve the systems are often hard to find. Justin Ruths researches mathematical and computational methods to select optimal choices for such complex and often large-scale systems.
Dr Ruths develops theoretical tools that determine the fundamental properties of complex control systems and also computational methods to solve the optimal control problems corresponding to these dynamical systems, which are usually analytically intractable. In particular, his work has studied the optimal control of parameterized, “ensemble” systems, which are motivated by applications in the control of quantum systems, neuroscience, and systems biology. His highly multidisciplinary research has been published in top-tier international journals.
Education Background
PhD Systems Science & Mathematics, Washington University in Saint Louis, 2011MS Mechanical Engineering, Columbia University, 2006BS Physics, Rice University, 2004
Research Projects
- Multidimensional pseudospectral method for the control of quantum systems
- Control of dynamical networks
- Characterizing head and eye movement dynamics
Selected Publications
- J.-S. Li, J. Ruths, T.-Y. Yu, H. Arthanari, G. Wagner. Optimal pulse design in quantum control: A unified computational method, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 108, no. 5, 1879-1884, 2011.
- J. Ruths, J.-S. Li. A multidimensional pseudospectral method for optimal control of quantum ensembles, Journal of Chemical Physics, 134, 044128, 2011.
- D. Stefanatos, J. Ruths, J.-S. Li. Frictionless atom cooling in harmonic traps: A time-optimal control approach, Physical Review A, 82, 063422, 2010.