Exponential Estimator - Issues with Sampling Error and Bias

1 Exponential Estimator - Issues with Sampling Error and Bias 

This relation for the dissipated work is exact for a Gaussian work distribution of 

Broad work distributions have two important consequences first, the statistics will be poor and, second, a bias in the estimator of the free energy change, A(t ) — A(0) = —ft 1 ln(exp(—ftW(t))), will result in free energy estimates that deviate systematically from the correct free energy difference [10]. This will be discussed in depth in Chap. 6. Specifically, if the free energy is estimated from N work values IT) drawn at random from the work distribution p/ (IT), 

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