Optimization in First-Passage Resetting

We investigate classic diffusion with the added feature that a diffusing particle is reset to its starting point each time the particle reaches a specified threshold. In an infinite domain, this process is nonstationary and its probability distribution exhibits rich features. In a finite domain, we define a nontrivial optimization in which a cost is incurred whenever the particle is reset and a reward is obtained while the particle stays near the reset point. We derive the condition to optimize the net gain in this system, namely, the reward minus the cost.