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Beyond local detailed balance: Microscopic rates reshape nonequilibrium phase behavior

Takahiro Kanazawa1,2,3,*, Kyogo Kawaguchi1,2,4,†, and Kyosuke Adachi2,5,6,‡

  • *Contact author: kanazawa@uchicago.edu
  • †Contact author: kyogo.kawaguchi@riken.jp
  • ‡Contact author: kyosuke.adachi@riken.jp
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033314 – Published 14 September, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/hvzp-wjmf

Abstract

Local detailed balance (LDB) is a central guiding principle for modeling nonequilibrium stochastic dynamics, yet it only constrains the ratio of forward and backward transition rates and does not fix the steady state. Although the functional form of rates under the same LDB has been shown to affect steady-state correlations and transition temperatures, whether it can qualitatively reshape phase behavior in strongly interacting systems, such as the morphology and stability of phase-separated patterns, remains unclear. Here, for a two-dimensional driven lattice gas with attractive nearest-neighbor interactions, we consider hopping rates with a parameter that preserves the same LDB but tunes asymmetry along the driving force. We find that this parameter controls qualitative phase behavior: In the homogeneous phase, it reverses the sign of the structure-factor discontinuity and hence the anisotropy in long-range density correlations; in the phase-separated regime, it switches the orientation of anisotropic patterns and their long-time stability. Both effects are coherently captured by an approximate fluctuating hydrodynamic equation. The results demonstrate that, in contrast to equilibrium systems, qualitative features of nonequilibrium phases are controlled by the specific choice of dynamical rules even under the same LDB.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 033314– Published 14 September, 2026
  • Received 24 May 2026
  • Accepted 24 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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