Detailed balance is a principle used in statistical mechanics and thermodynamics that describes a specific condition of equilibrium in a system. It refers to the condition whereby, for every possible transition between states of a system, the rate of transitions in one direction is balanced by the rate of transitions in the reverse direction. This ensures that, over time, the system reaches a steady-state distribution of states.

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Detailed balance by Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
Detailed balance is the identity pi_i P_ij = pi_j P_ji for every pair of states.