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	<entry>
		<id>http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10809</id>
		<title>Wang-Landau method</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10809"/>
		<updated>2010-11-17T20:13:05Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Pojeda: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The &#039;&#039;&#039;Wang-Landau method&#039;&#039;&#039; was proposed by F. Wang and D. P. Landau (Ref. 1-2) to compute the density of &lt;br /&gt;
states, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega (E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, of [[Potts model|Potts models]];&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the number of [[microstate |microstates]] of the system having energy &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Sketches of the method == &lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method, in its original version, is a [[Computer simulation techniques |simulation technique]] designed to achieve a uniform sampling of the energies of the system in a given range. &lt;br /&gt;
In a standard [[Metropolis Monte Carlo|Metropolis Monte Carlo]] in the [[canonical ensemble|canonical ensemble]]&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of a given [[microstate]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; X &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ - E(X)/k_B T \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
whereas for the Wang-Landau procedure one can write:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ f(E(X)) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is a function of the energy. &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; changes&lt;br /&gt;
during the simulation in order produce a predefined distribution of energies (usually&lt;br /&gt;
a uniform distribution); this is done by modifying the values of &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
to reduce the probability of the energies that have been already &#039;&#039;visited&#039;&#039;, i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
If the current configuration has energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
is updated as:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f^{new}(E_i) = f(E_i) - \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where it has been considered that the system has discrete values of the energy (as happens in [[Potts model|Potts Models]]), and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;gt; 0  &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Such a simple scheme is continued until the shape of the energy distribution&lt;br /&gt;
approaches the one predefined. Notice that this simulation scheme does not produce&lt;br /&gt;
an equilibrium procedure, since it does not fulfill [[detailed balance]]. To overcome&lt;br /&gt;
this problem, the Wang-Landau procedure consists in the repetition of the scheme&lt;br /&gt;
sketched above along several stages. In each subsequent stage the perturbation&lt;br /&gt;
parameter &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is reduced. So, for the last stages the function &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; hardly changes and the simulation results of these last stages can be considered as a good description of the actual equilibrium system, therefore:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) \propto e^{f(E)} \int d X_i \delta( E,  E_i ) = e^{f(E)} \Omega(E)&amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where :&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i = E(X_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \delta(x,y) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the &lt;br /&gt;
[[Kronecker delta|Kronecker Delta]], and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the fraction of&lt;br /&gt;
microstates with energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; obtained in the sampling.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the probability distribution of energies, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is nearly flat (if a uniform distribution of energies is the target), i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
: &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E_i) \simeq  1/n_{E} ; &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;  for each value &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; in the selected range,&lt;br /&gt;
with  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; n_{E} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; being the total number of discrete values of the energy in the range, then the density of&lt;br /&gt;
states will be given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) \propto \exp \left[ - f(E) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Microcanonical thermodynamics ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Once one knows &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; with accuracy, one can derive the thermodynamics&lt;br /&gt;
of the system, since the [[entropy|entropy]] in the [[microcanonical ensemble|microcanonical ensemble]]  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; S \left( E \right) = k_{B}   \log \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; k_{B} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the [[Boltzmann constant | Boltzmann constant]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Extensions ==&lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method has inspired a number of simulation algorithms that&lt;br /&gt;
use the same strategy in different contexts. For example:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Inverse Monte Carlo|Inverse Monte Carlo]] methods (Refs 4-6)&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Computation of phase equilibria]] of fluids (Refs 7-9)&lt;br /&gt;
* Control of polydispersity by chemical potential &#039;&#039;tuning&#039;&#039; (Ref 6)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Phase equilibria ===&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
In the original version one computes the [[entropy|entropy]] of the system as a function of&lt;br /&gt;
the [[internal energy|internal energy]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  for fixed conditions of volume, &lt;br /&gt;
and number of particles.&lt;br /&gt;
In Refs (7-9) it is shown how the procedure can be applied to compute other thermodynamic &lt;br /&gt;
potentials that can be used later to locate [[phase transitions]]. For instance one&lt;br /&gt;
can compute the [[Helmholtz energy function | Helmholtz energy function ]], &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; A \left( N | V, T \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; as a function of the number of particle &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; N &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
for fixed conditions of volume,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; V &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  and [[temperature|temperature]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; T &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Refinement of the results === &lt;br /&gt;
It can be convenient (Refs 7-8) to supplement the Wang-Landau algorithm, which does not fulfil detailed balance,&lt;br /&gt;
with an equilibrium simulation. In this equilibrium simulation one can use&lt;br /&gt;
the final result for &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( E \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; (or &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( N \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;) extracted from&lt;br /&gt;
the Wang-Landau technique as a fixed function to weight&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of the different configurations.&lt;br /&gt;
Such a strategy simplifies the estimation of error bars, provides a good test of the results consistency,&lt;br /&gt;
and can be used to refine the numerical results.&lt;br /&gt;
==Applications==&lt;br /&gt;
The WL algorithm has been applied successfully to several problems in physics, biology, chemistry.&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Statistical-temperature simulation algorithm]]&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2050 Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Efficient, Multiple-Range Random Walk Algorithm to Calculate the Density of States&amp;quot;, Physical Review Letters &#039;&#039;&#039;86&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 2050-2053 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.056101     Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Determining the density of states for classical statistical models: A random walk algorithm to produce a flat histogram&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;64&#039;&#039;&#039; 056101 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.1707017     D. P. Landau, Shan-Ho Tsai, and M. Exler &amp;quot;A new approach to Monte Carlo simulations in statistical physics: Wang-Landau sampling&amp;quot;,  American Journal of Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;72&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 1294-1302 (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.011202 N. G. Almarza and E. Lomba, &amp;quot;Determination of the interaction potential from the pair distribution function: An inverse Monte Carlo technique&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;68&#039;&#039;&#039; 011202 (6 pages) (2003)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.021203  N. G. Almarza, E. Lomba, and D. Molina. &amp;quot;Determination of effective pair interactions from the structure factor&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;70&#039;&#039;&#039; 021203 (5 pages) (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1626635 Nigel B. Wilding &amp;quot;A nonequilibrium Monte Carlo approach to potential refinement in inverse problems&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;119&#039;&#039;&#039;, 12163 (2003)  ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.046132 E. Lomba, C. Martín, and N. G. Almarza,  &amp;quot;Simulation study of the phase behavior of a planar Maier-Saupe nematogenic liquid&amp;quot;, Physical Review E E &#039;&#039;&#039;71&#039;&#039;&#039; 046132 (2005)   ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2748043 E. Lomba, N. G. Almarza, C. Martín, and C. McBride, &amp;quot;Phase behavior of attractive and repulsive ramp fluids: Integral equation and computer simulation studies&amp;quot;,  Journal of Chemical Physics  &#039;&#039;&#039;126&#039;&#039;&#039; 244510 (2007) ] &lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2794042     Georg Ganzenmüller and Philip J. Camp &amp;quot;Applications of Wang-Landau sampling to determine phase equilibria in complex fluids&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 154504 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2803061 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Wang-Landau algorithm: A theoretical analysis of the saturation of the error&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 184105 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046701 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Fast algorithm to calculate density of states&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;75&#039;&#039;&#039; 046701 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: Monte Carlo]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: computer simulation techniques]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Pojeda</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10808</id>
		<title>Wang-Landau method</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10808"/>
		<updated>2010-11-17T19:58:30Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Pojeda: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The &#039;&#039;&#039;Wang-Landau method&#039;&#039;&#039; was proposed by F. Wang and D. P. Landau (Ref. 1-2) to compute the density of &lt;br /&gt;
states, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega (E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, of [[Potts model|Potts models]];&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the number of [[microstate |microstates]] of the system having energy &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Sketches of the method == &lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method, in its original version, is a [[Computer simulation techniques |simulation technique]] designed to achieve a uniform sampling of the energies of the system in a given range. &lt;br /&gt;
In a standard [[Metropolis Monte Carlo|Metropolis Monte Carlo]] in the [[canonical ensemble|canonical ensemble]]&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of a given [[microstate]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; X &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ - E(X)/k_B T \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
whereas for the Wang-Landau procedure one can write:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ f(E(X)) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where :&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is a function of the energy. :&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; changes&lt;br /&gt;
during the simulation in order produce a predefined distribution of energies (usually&lt;br /&gt;
a uniform distribution); this is done by modifying the values of :&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
to reduce the probability of the energies that have been already &#039;&#039;visited&#039;&#039;, i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
If the current configuration has energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
is updated as:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f^{new}(E_i) = f(E_i) - \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where it has been considered that the system has discrete values of the energy (as happens in [[Potts model|Potts Models]]), and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;gt; 0  &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Such a simple scheme is continued until the shape of the energy distribution&lt;br /&gt;
approaches the one predefined. Notice that this simulation scheme does not produce&lt;br /&gt;
an equilibrium procedure, since it does not fulfill [[detailed balance]]. To overcome&lt;br /&gt;
this problem, the Wang-Landau procedure consists in the repetition of the scheme&lt;br /&gt;
sketched above along several stages. In each subsequent stage the perturbation&lt;br /&gt;
parameter &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is reduced. So, for the last stages the function &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; hardly changes and the simulation results of these last stages can be considered as a good description of the actual equilibrium system, therefore:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) \propto e^{f(E)} \int d X_i \delta( E,  E_i ) = e^{f(E)} \Omega(E)&amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where :&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i = E(X_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \delta(x,y) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the &lt;br /&gt;
[[Kronecker delta|Kronecker Delta]], and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the fraction of&lt;br /&gt;
microstates with energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; obtained in the sampling.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the probability distribution of energies, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is nearly flat (if a uniform distribution of energies is the target), i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
: &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E_i) \simeq  1/n_{E} ; &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;  for each value &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; in the selected range,&lt;br /&gt;
with  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; n_{E} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; being the total number of discrete values of the energy in the range, then the density of&lt;br /&gt;
states will be given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) \propto \exp \left[ - f(E) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Microcanonical thermodynamics ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Once one knows &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; with accuracy, one can derive the thermodynamics&lt;br /&gt;
of the system, since the [[entropy|entropy]] in the [[microcanonical ensemble|microcanonical ensemble]]  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; S \left( E \right) = k_{B}   \log \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; k_{B} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the [[Boltzmann constant | Boltzmann constant]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Extensions ==&lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method has inspired a number of simulation algorithms that&lt;br /&gt;
use the same strategy in different contexts. For example:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Inverse Monte Carlo|Inverse Monte Carlo]] methods (Refs 4-6)&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Computation of phase equilibria]] of fluids (Refs 7-9)&lt;br /&gt;
* Control of polydispersity by chemical potential &#039;&#039;tuning&#039;&#039; (Ref 6)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Phase equilibria ===&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
In the original version one computes the [[entropy|entropy]] of the system as a function of&lt;br /&gt;
the [[internal energy|internal energy]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  for fixed conditions of volume, &lt;br /&gt;
and number of particles.&lt;br /&gt;
In Refs (7-9) it is shown how the procedure can be applied to compute other thermodynamic &lt;br /&gt;
potentials that can be used later to locate [[phase transitions]]. For instance one&lt;br /&gt;
can compute the [[Helmholtz energy function | Helmholtz energy function ]], &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; A \left( N | V, T \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; as a function of the number of particle &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; N &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
for fixed conditions of volume,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; V &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  and [[temperature|temperature]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; T &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Refinement of the results === &lt;br /&gt;
It can be convenient (Refs 7-8) to supplement the Wang-Landau algorithm, which does not fulfil detailed balance,&lt;br /&gt;
with an equilibrium simulation. In this equilibrium simulation one can use&lt;br /&gt;
the final result for &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( E \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; (or &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( N \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;) extracted from&lt;br /&gt;
the Wang-Landau technique as a fixed function to weight&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of the different configurations.&lt;br /&gt;
Such a strategy simplifies the estimation of error bars, provides a good test of the results consistency,&lt;br /&gt;
and can be used to refine the numerical results.&lt;br /&gt;
==Applications==&lt;br /&gt;
The WL algorithm has been applied successfully to several problems in physics, biology, chemistry.&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Statistical-temperature simulation algorithm]]&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2050 Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Efficient, Multiple-Range Random Walk Algorithm to Calculate the Density of States&amp;quot;, Physical Review Letters &#039;&#039;&#039;86&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 2050-2053 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.056101     Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Determining the density of states for classical statistical models: A random walk algorithm to produce a flat histogram&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;64&#039;&#039;&#039; 056101 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.1707017     D. P. Landau, Shan-Ho Tsai, and M. Exler &amp;quot;A new approach to Monte Carlo simulations in statistical physics: Wang-Landau sampling&amp;quot;,  American Journal of Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;72&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 1294-1302 (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.011202 N. G. Almarza and E. Lomba, &amp;quot;Determination of the interaction potential from the pair distribution function: An inverse Monte Carlo technique&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;68&#039;&#039;&#039; 011202 (6 pages) (2003)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.021203  N. G. Almarza, E. Lomba, and D. Molina. &amp;quot;Determination of effective pair interactions from the structure factor&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;70&#039;&#039;&#039; 021203 (5 pages) (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1626635 Nigel B. Wilding &amp;quot;A nonequilibrium Monte Carlo approach to potential refinement in inverse problems&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;119&#039;&#039;&#039;, 12163 (2003)  ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.046132 E. Lomba, C. Martín, and N. G. Almarza,  &amp;quot;Simulation study of the phase behavior of a planar Maier-Saupe nematogenic liquid&amp;quot;, Physical Review E E &#039;&#039;&#039;71&#039;&#039;&#039; 046132 (2005)   ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2748043 E. Lomba, N. G. Almarza, C. Martín, and C. McBride, &amp;quot;Phase behavior of attractive and repulsive ramp fluids: Integral equation and computer simulation studies&amp;quot;,  Journal of Chemical Physics  &#039;&#039;&#039;126&#039;&#039;&#039; 244510 (2007) ] &lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2794042     Georg Ganzenmüller and Philip J. Camp &amp;quot;Applications of Wang-Landau sampling to determine phase equilibria in complex fluids&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 154504 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2803061 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Wang-Landau algorithm: A theoretical analysis of the saturation of the error&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 184105 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046701 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Fast algorithm to calculate density of states&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;75&#039;&#039;&#039; 046701 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: Monte Carlo]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: computer simulation techniques]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Pojeda</name></author>
	</entry>
	<entry>
		<id>http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10804</id>
		<title>Wang-Landau method</title>
		<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="http://www.sklogwiki.org/SklogWiki/index.php?title=Wang-Landau_method&amp;diff=10804"/>
		<updated>2010-11-17T14:40:58Z</updated>

		<summary type="html">&lt;p&gt;Pojeda: &lt;/p&gt;
&lt;hr /&gt;
&lt;div&gt;The &#039;&#039;&#039;Wang-Landau method&#039;&#039;&#039; was proposed by F. Wang and D. P. Landau (Ref. 1-2) to compute the density of &lt;br /&gt;
states, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega (E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, of [[Potts model|Potts models]];&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the number of [[microstate |microstates]] of the system having energy &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Sketches of the method == &lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method, in its original version, is a [[Computer simulation techniques |simulation technique]] designed to achieve a uniform sampling of the energies of the system in a given range. &lt;br /&gt;
In a standard [[Metropolis Monte Carlo|Metropolis Monte Carlo]] in the [[canonical ensemble|canonical ensemble]]&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of a given [[microstate]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; X &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ - E(X)/k_B T \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
whereas for the Wang-Landau procedure one can write:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; P(X) \propto \exp \left[ f(E(X)) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is a function of the energy. &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; changes&lt;br /&gt;
during the simulation in order produce a predefined distribution of energies (usually&lt;br /&gt;
a uniform distribution); this is done by modifying the values of &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
to reduce the probability of the energies that have been already &#039;&#039;visited&#039;&#039;, i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
If the current configuration has energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
is updated as:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f^{new}(E_i) = f(E_i) - \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; ;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where it has been considered that the system has discrete values of the energy (as happens in [[Potts model|Potts Models]]), and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;gt; 0  &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Such a simple scheme is continued until the shape of the energy distribution&lt;br /&gt;
approaches the one predefined. Notice that this simulation scheme does not produce&lt;br /&gt;
an equilibrium procedure, since it does not fulfill [[detailed balance]]. To overcome&lt;br /&gt;
this problem, the Wang-Landau procedure consists in the repetition of the scheme&lt;br /&gt;
sketched above along several stages. In each subsequent stage the perturbation&lt;br /&gt;
parameter &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Delta f &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is reduced. So, for the last stages the function &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; hardly changes and the simulation results of these last stages can be considered as a good description of the actual equilibrium system, therefore:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) \propto e^{f(E)} \int d X_i \delta( E,  E_i ) = e^{f(E)} \Omega(E)&amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i = E(X_i) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \delta(x,y) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the &lt;br /&gt;
[[Kronecker delta|Kronecker Delta]], and &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the fraction of&lt;br /&gt;
microstates with energy &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; obtained in the sampling.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
If the probability distribution of energies, &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  is nearly flat (if a uniform distribution of energies is the target), i.e.&lt;br /&gt;
: &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; g(E_i) \simeq  1/n_{E} ; &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;;  for each value &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E_i &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; in the selected range,&lt;br /&gt;
with  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; n_{E} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; being the total number of discrete values of the energy in the range, then the density of&lt;br /&gt;
states will be given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) \propto \exp \left[ - f(E) \right] &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Microcanonical thermodynamics ===&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
Once one knows &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; with accuracy, one can derive the thermodynamics&lt;br /&gt;
of the system, since the [[entropy|entropy]] in the [[microcanonical ensemble|microcanonical ensemble]]  is given by:&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
:&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; S \left( E \right) = k_{B}   \log \Omega(E) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
where &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; k_{B} &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; is the [[Boltzmann constant | Boltzmann constant]].&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
== Extensions ==&lt;br /&gt;
The Wang-Landau method has inspired a number of simulation algorithms that&lt;br /&gt;
use the same strategy in different contexts. For example:&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Inverse Monte Carlo|Inverse Monte Carlo]] methods (Refs 4-6)&lt;br /&gt;
* [[Computation of phase equilibria]] of fluids (Refs 7-9)&lt;br /&gt;
* Control of polydispersity by chemical potential &#039;&#039;tuning&#039;&#039; (Ref 6)&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Phase equilibria ===&lt;br /&gt;
 &lt;br /&gt;
In the original version one computes the [[entropy|entropy]] of the system as a function of&lt;br /&gt;
the [[internal energy|internal energy]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; E &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  for fixed conditions of volume, &lt;br /&gt;
and number of particles.&lt;br /&gt;
In Refs (7-9) it is shown how the procedure can be applied to compute other thermodynamic &lt;br /&gt;
potentials that can be used later to locate [[phase transitions]]. For instance one&lt;br /&gt;
can compute the [[Helmholtz energy function | Helmholtz energy function ]], &lt;br /&gt;
&amp;lt;math&amp;gt; A \left( N | V, T \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; as a function of the number of particle &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; N &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;&lt;br /&gt;
for fixed conditions of volume,  &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; V &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;,  and [[temperature|temperature]], &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; T &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;.&lt;br /&gt;
&lt;br /&gt;
=== Refinement of the results === &lt;br /&gt;
It can be convenient (Refs 7-8) to supplement the Wang-Landau algorithm, which does not fulfil detailed balance,&lt;br /&gt;
with an equilibrium simulation. In this equilibrium simulation one can use&lt;br /&gt;
the final result for &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( E \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt; (or &amp;lt;math&amp;gt; f\left( N \right) &amp;lt;/math&amp;gt;) extracted from&lt;br /&gt;
the Wang-Landau technique as a fixed function to weight&lt;br /&gt;
the probability of the different configurations.&lt;br /&gt;
Such a strategy simplifies the estimation of error bars, provides a good test of the results consistency,&lt;br /&gt;
and can be used to refine the numerical results.&lt;br /&gt;
==Applications==&lt;br /&gt;
The WL algorithm has been applied successfully to several problems in physics, biology, chemistry.&lt;br /&gt;
==See also==&lt;br /&gt;
*[[Statistical-temperature simulation algorithm]]&lt;br /&gt;
==References==&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.2050 Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Efficient, Multiple-Range Random Walk Algorithm to Calculate the Density of States&amp;quot;, Physical Review Letters &#039;&#039;&#039;86&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 2050-2053 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.056101     Fugao Wang and D. P. Landau &amp;quot;Determining the density of states for classical statistical models: A random walk algorithm to produce a flat histogram&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;64&#039;&#039;&#039; 056101 (2001)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.1707017     D. P. Landau, Shan-Ho Tsai, and M. Exler &amp;quot;A new approach to Monte Carlo simulations in statistical physics: Wang-Landau sampling&amp;quot;,  American Journal of Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;72&#039;&#039;&#039; pp. 1294-1302 (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.011202 N. G. Almarza and E. Lomba, &amp;quot;Determination of the interaction potential from the pair distribution function: An inverse Monte Carlo technique&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;68&#039;&#039;&#039; 011202 (6 pages) (2003)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.70.021203  N. G. Almarza, E. Lomba, and D. Molina. &amp;quot;Determination of effective pair interactions from the structure factor&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;70&#039;&#039;&#039; 021203 (5 pages) (2004)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1626635 Nigel B. Wilding &amp;quot;A nonequilibrium Monte Carlo approach to potential refinement in inverse problems&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;119&#039;&#039;&#039;, 12163 (2003)  ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.71.046132 E. Lomba, C. Martín, and N. G. Almarza,  &amp;quot;Simulation study of the phase behavior of a planar Maier-Saupe nematogenic liquid&amp;quot;, Physical Review E E &#039;&#039;&#039;71&#039;&#039;&#039; 046132 (2005)   ]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2748043 E. Lomba, N. G. Almarza, C. Martín, and C. McBride, &amp;quot;Phase behavior of attractive and repulsive ramp fluids: Integral equation and computer simulation studies&amp;quot;,  Journal of Chemical Physics  &#039;&#039;&#039;126&#039;&#039;&#039; 244510 (2007) ] &lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2794042     Georg Ganzenmüller and Philip J. Camp &amp;quot;Applications of Wang-Landau sampling to determine phase equilibria in complex fluids&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 154504 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2803061 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Wang-Landau algorithm: A theoretical analysis of the saturation of the error&amp;quot;, Journal of Chemical Physics &#039;&#039;&#039;127&#039;&#039;&#039; 184105 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
#[http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.75.046701 R. E. Belardinelli and V. D. Pereyra &amp;quot;Fast algorithm to calculate density of states&amp;quot;, Physical Review E &#039;&#039;&#039;75&#039;&#039;&#039; 046701 (2007)]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: Monte Carlo]]&lt;br /&gt;
[[category: computer simulation techniques]]&lt;/div&gt;</summary>
		<author><name>Pojeda</name></author>
	</entry>
</feed>