Boltzmann-like occupation of nonequilibrium steady states on dense disordered networks
Phys. Rev. E 114, 054120 – Published 9 November, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4tf9-n1zn
Abstract
A central problem in statistical physics is to extend the Boltzmann distribution to nonequilibrium steady states (NESS). We prove that NESS on large dense disordered networks have Boltzmann-like occupation, despite extensive entropy production. One consequence is that such NESS can conceal their nonequilibrium nature from measurements of static response to energy perturbations. We further prove that the active-matter heuristic of “low rattling” is asymptotically exact for these NESS. Intuitively, they spend a greater fraction of their time in states they leave more slowly. We show that rattling effectively extends the Boltzmann distribution to such NESS, as well as the broader class of “equiaccessible” steady states, which play a role in our analysis akin to that of equilibrium in linear response.
