Metropolis Monte Carlo protein folding

Here, Boltzmann s constant is set equal to 1. Regardless of whether a move is accepted or rejected, one unit of time (one Monte Carlo step) is considered to have passed. This probabilistic acceptance criterion is known as the Metropolis Monte Carlo algorithm. Although no connection exists between physically relevant time scales and Monte Carlo time steps, Monte Carlo simulations can estimate the relative time scales of protein folding versus simulation time, as well as the time needed to reach equilibrium at a given temperature. Keep in mind, however, that any time scale extracted from a Monte Carlo simulation depends on the move set used. Even so, useful information can be extracted from such a simulation, such as relative transition times for two different sequences. 

In the literature, some computer models describing the evolution of copolymer sequences have been proposed [26,28]. Most of them are based on a stochastic Monte Carlo optimization principle (Metropolis scheme) and aimed at the problems of protein physics. Such optimization algorithms start with arbitrary sequences and proceed by making random substitutions biased to minimize relative potential energy of the initial sequence and/or to maximize the folding rate of the target structure. 

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