= Hugo Touchette
{c}
<Hugo Touchette> develops connections between the <large deviation principle> and <statistical mechanics>. Rare fluctuations often have probabilities that decrease exponentially with system size or observation time; their <rate function> captures information beyond a local Gaussian approximation. His treatment uses this structure to derive variational descriptions of equilibrium and nonequilibrium states. Nonconcave entropies expose limits of ordinary <Legendre transforms> and help explain why different statistical ensembles need not be equivalent.<The large deviation approach to statistical mechanics by Hugo Touchette>[Physics Reports 478, 1–69 (2009), abstract and equilibrium/nonequilibrium variational formulations]{ref}
\Image[https://files.su.ac.za/public/applied-mathematics-division/images/2026-02/hugot2jpg.jpg]
{title=Portrait of <Hugo Touchette>}
{description=External portrait hosted by Stellenbosch University.}
{source=https://www.su.ac.za/en/faculties/science/applied-mathematics/research/prof-hugo-touchette}
{width=260}
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