Rules for transition rates in nonequilibrium steady states

Abstract

Just as transition rates in a canonical ensemble must respect the principle of detailed balance, constraints exist on transition rates in driven steady states. I derive those constraints, by maximum information-entropy inference, and apply them to the steady states of driven diffusion and a sheared lattice fluid. The resulting ensemble can potentially explain nonequilibrium phase behaviour and, for steady shear, gives rise to stress-mediated long-range interactions.

4 pages. To appear in Physical Review Letters