  In this article we review the relation between string theory and
non-equilibrium physics based on our previously published work. First we
explain why a theory of quantum gravity and non-equilibrium statistical physics
should be related in the first place. Then we present the necessary background
from the recent research in non-equilibrium physics. The review discusses the
relationship of string theory and aging phenomena, as well as the connection
between AdS/CFT correspondence and the Jarzynski identity. We also discuss the
emergent symmetries in fully developed turbulence and the corresponding
non-equilibrium stationary states. Finally we outline a larger picture
regarding the relationship between non-perturbative quantum gravity and
non-equilibrium statistical physics. This relationship can be understood as a
natural generalization of the well-known Wilsonian relation between local
quantum field theory and equilibrium statistical physics of critical phenomena.
According to this picture the AdS/CFT duality is just an example of a more
general connection between non-perturbative quantum gravity and non-equilibrium
physics. In the appendix of this review we discuss a new kind of
complementarity between thermodynamics and statistical physics which should be
important in the context of black hole complementarity.
