Intertwining Markov Processes via Matrix Product Operators

Abstract

Duality transformations reveal unexpected equivalences between seemingly distinct models. We introduce an out-of-equilibrium generalisation of matrix product operators to implement duality transformations in one-dimensional boundary-driven Markov processes on lattices. In contrast to local dualities associated with generalised symmetries, here the duality operator intertwines two Markov processes via generalised exchange relations and realises the out-of-equilibrium duality globally. We construct these operators exactly for the symmetric simple exclusion process with distinct out-of-equilibrium boundaries. In this case, out-of-equilibrium boundaries are dual to equilibrium boundaries satisfying Liggett's condition, implying that the Gibbs-Boltzmann measure captures out-of-equilibrium physics when leveraging the duality operator. We illustrate this principle through physical applications.