Mutual multilinearity of nonequilibrium network currents
Sara Dal Cengio, Pedro E. Harunari, Vivien Lecomte, Matteo Polettini
SciPost Phys. 19, 111 (2025) · published 27 October 2025
- doi: 10.21468/SciPostPhys.19.4.111
- Submissions/Reports
-
Abstract
Continuous-time Markov chains have been successful in modelling systems across numerous fields, with currents being fundamental entities that describe the flows of energy, particles, individuals, chemical species, information, or other quantities. They apply to systems described by agents transitioning between vertices along the edges of a network (at some rate in each direction). It has recently been shown by the authors that, at stationarity, a hidden linearity exists between currents that flow along edges: if one controls the current of a specific "input" edge (by tuning transition rates along it), any other current is a linear-affine function of the input current [Phys. Rev. Lett. 133, 047401 (2024)]. In this paper, we extend this result to the situation where one controls the currents of several edges, and prove that other currents are in linear-affine relation with the input ones. Two proofs with distinct insights are provided: the first relies on Kirchhoff's current law and reduces the input set inductively through graph analysis, while the second utilizes the resolvent approach via a Laplace transform in time. We obtain explicit expressions for the current-to-current susceptibilities, which allow one to map current dependencies through the network. We also verify from our expression that Kirchhoff's current law is recovered as a limiting case of our mutual linearity. Last, we uncover that susceptibilities can be obtained from fluctuations when the reference system is originally at equilibrium.
Authors / Affiliations: mappings to Contributors and Organizations
See all Organizations.- 1 2 3 4 Sara Dal Cengio,
- 4 5 6 7 Pedro E. Harunari,
- 2 3 4 Vivien Lecomte,
- Matteo Polettini
- 1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology [MIT]
- 2 Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Physique [LIPhy]
- 3 Université Grenoble Alpes / Grenoble Alpes University [UGA]
- 4 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research [CNRS]
- 5 Université du Luxembourg / University of Luxembourg
- 6 Aix-Marseille Université / Aix-Marseille University [AMU]
- 7 Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille / Centre Interdisciplinaire de Nanoscience de Marseille [CINaM]
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche [ANR]
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research [CNRS]
- Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique - FNRS (FNRS) (through Organization: Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique [FNRS])
- Fonds National de la Recherche Luxembourg [FNR]
