Finding the jump rate for fastest decay in the Goldstein-Taylor model

For hypocoercive linear kinetic equations we first formulate an optimisation problem on a spatially dependent jump rate in order to find the fastest decay rate of perturbations. In the Goldstein-Taylor model we show (i) that for a locally optimal jump rate the spectral gap is determined by multiple, possible degenerate, eigenvectors and (ii) that globally the fastest decay is obtained with a spatially homogeneous jump rate. Our proofs rely on a connection to damped wave equations and a relationship to the spectral theory of Schr{o}dinger operators.