Invariant quantities in shear flow.

The dynamics of systems out of thermal equilibrium is usually treated on a case-by-case basis without knowledge of fundamental and universal principles. We address this problem for a class of driven steady states, namely, those mechanically driven at the boundaries such as complex fluids under shear. From a nonequilibrium counterpart to detailed balance (NCDB) we derive a remarkably simple set of invariant quantities which remain unchanged when the system is driven. These new nonequilibrium relations are both exact and valid arbitrarily far from equilibrium. Furthermore, they enable the systematic calculation of transition rates in driven systems with state spaces of arbitrary connectivity.