{
  "abstract": "We investigate the current response of a boundary-driven symmetric exclusion process with quenched site disorder. Hard-core particles hop symmetrically on a one-dimensional lattice with site-dependent rates and are injected and removed at the boundaries by two reservoirs of different densities. We approximate the steady-state density profile using a Galerkin projection at linear order and a mean-field closure at higher orders, and thereby obtain the current as a nonlinear function of the reservoir density difference. At linear order in the reservoir density difference, the current-response coefficient depends on the mean reservoir density $ρ$, in contrast to the homogeneous case. Through the linear-response relation, this dependence leads to an equilibrium current-fluctuation coefficient that is asymmetric under $ρ\\rightarrow 1-ρ$. Beyond linear response, nonzero even-order current contributions break the antisymmetry of the current under reversal of the reservoir density difference, producing rectification-like behavior in individual disorder realizations. We further show that spatial-reflection symmetry of the equilibrium density profile rules out such behavior, so broken spatial-reflection symmetry of the profile is a necessary condition for rectification-like behavior. Within the present approximation, we further find that, for continuously distributed site disorder, rectification-like behavior occurs arbitrarily close to equilibrium for almost every disorder realization. At the ensemble level, however, the disorder-averaged current remains antisymmetric because the disorder ensemble is invariant under spatial reflection. These results provide a mechanism for rectification-like transport arising from sample-specific spatial heterogeneity rather than from an explicitly imposed directional asymmetry.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.03560",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Issei Sakai"
    },
    {
      "name": "Takuma Akimoto"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d6hx45xbxaqrq.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.03560",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "d6hx45xbxaqrq",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03560",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "LicenseRef-arXiv-nonexclusive-1.0",
  "licence_label": "arXiv licence",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.dis-nn"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "cond-mat.stat-mech"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2610|Stochastic processes and statistical mechanics"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7208749890",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.03560",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d6hx45xbxaqrq.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:31Z",
      "native_id": "2609.03560",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.03560"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.dis-nn",
      "subfield": "condensed-matter"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:cond-mat.stat-mech",
      "subfield": "statistical-nonlinear"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Sample-specific rectification-like response in a boundary-driven exclusion process",
  "title_text": "Sample-specific rectification-like response in a boundary-driven exclusion process",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:31Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/d6hx45xbxaqrq",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}