Monte Carlo simulation transition

The parameter /r tunes the stiffness of the potential. It is chosen such that the repulsive part of the Leimard-Jones potential makes a crossing of bonds highly improbable (e.g., k= 30). This off-lattice model has a rather realistic equation of state and reproduces many experimental features of polymer solutions. Due to the attractive interactions the model exhibits a liquid-vapour coexistence, and an isolated chain undergoes a transition from a self-avoiding walk at high temperatures to a collapsed globule at low temperatures. Since all interactions are continuous, the model is tractable by Monte Carlo simulations as well as by molecular dynamics. Generalizations of the Leimard-Jones potential to anisotropic pair interactions are available e.g., the Gay-Beme potential [29]. This latter potential has been employed to study non-spherical particles that possibly fomi liquid crystalline phases. 

The computation of quantum many-body effects requires additional effort compared to classical cases. This holds in particular if strong collective phenomena such as phase transitions are considered. The path integral approach to critical phenomena allows the computation of collective phenomena at constant temperature — a condition which is preferred experimentally. Due to the link of path integrals to the partition function in statistical physics, methods from the latter — such as Monte Carlo simulation techniques — can be used for efficient computation of quantum effects. 

In this seetion of our work we present examples of the applieation of eomputer simulation methods to study ehemieally assoeiating fluids. In the first ease we eonsider the adsorption and surfaee phase transitions by means of a eonstant pressure Monte Carlo simulation. The seeond example is foeused on the problem of ehemieal potential evaluation. 

Another interesting version of the MM model considers a variable excluded-volume interaction between same species particles [92]. In the absence of interactions the system is mapped on the standard MM model which has a first-order IPT between A- and B-saturated phases. On increasing the strength of the interaction the first-order transition line, observed for weak interactions, terminates at a tricritical point where two second-order transitions meet. These transitions, which separate the A-saturated, reactive, and B-saturated phases, belong to the same universality class as directed percolation, as follows from the value of critical exponents calculated by means of time-dependent Monte Carlo simulations and series expansions [92]. 

E. V. Albano. Monte Carlo simulation of a bimolecular reaction of the type A-t- (1/2) B2 —> AB. The influence of A-desorption on kinetic phase transitions. Appl Phys A 55 226-230, 1992. 

R. G. Larson. Monte Carlo simulations of microstructural transitions in surfactant systems. J Chem Phys 96 7904-7918, 1992. 

Those Warren-Cowley parameters have been determined in situ above the order-disorder transition temperature by diffuse neutron scattering. From these experimentally determined static correlations, the first nine effective pair interactions have been deduced using inverse Monte Carlo simulations. 

M. P. Allen, Introduction to Monte Carlo simulations. In Observation, Prediction and Simulation of Phase Transitions in Complex Fluids, M. Bans, L. F. Rull, and J.- P Ryckaert, Eds., Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1995, 339-356. 

The simulation of a first-order phase transition, especially one where the two phases have a significant difference in molecular area, can be difficult in the context of a molecular dynamics simulation some of the works already described are examples of this problem. In a molecular dynamics simulation it can be hard to see coexistence of phases, especially when the molecules are fairly complicated so that a relatively small system size is necessary. One approach to this problem, described by Siepmann et al. [369] to model the LE-G transition, is to perform Monte Carlo simulations in the Gibbs ensemble. In this approach, the two phases are simulated in two separate but coupled boxes. One of the possible MC moves is to move a molecule from one box to the other in this manner two coexisting phases may be simulated without an interface. Siepmann et al. used the chain and interface potentials described in the Karaborni et al. works [362-365] for a 15-carbon carboxylic acid (i.e. pen-tadecanoic acid) on water. They found reasonable coexistence conditions from their simulations, implying, among other things, the existence of a stable LE state in the Karaborni model, though the LE phase is substantially denser than that seen experimentally. The re-... 

In general, percolation is one of the principal tools to analyze disordered media. It has been used extensively to study, for example, random electrical networks, diffusion in disordered media, or phase transitions. Percolation models usually require approximate solution methods such as Monte Carlo simulations, series expansions, and phenomenological renormalization [16]. While some exact results are known (for the Bethe lattice, for instance), they are very rare because of the complexity of the problem. Monte Carlo simulations are very versatile but lack the accuracy of the other methods. The above solution methods were employed in determining the critical exponents given in the following section. 

Although the collision and transition state theories represent two important methods of attacking the theoretical calculation of reaction rates, they are not the only approaches available. Alternative methods include theories based on nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, stochastic theories, and Monte Carlo simulations of chemical dynamics. Consult the texts by Johnson (62), Laidler (60), and Benson (59) and the review by Wayne (63) for a further introduction to the theoretical aspects of reaction kinetics. 

Errington, J.R., Direct calculation of liquid-vapor phase equilibria from transition matrix Monte Carlo simulation, J. Chem. Phys. 2003,118, 9915-9925... 

Errington, J. R., Evaluating surface tension using grand-canonical transition-matrix Monte Carlo simulation and finite-size scaling, Phys. Rev. E 2003, 67, 012102... 

Just as in a conventional Monte Carlo simulation, correct sampling of the transition path ensemble is enforced by requiring that the algorithm obeys the detailed balance condition. More specifically, the probability n [ZW( ) - z(n)( )]2 to move from an old path z ° 22) to a new one " (2/ ) in a Monte Carlo step must be exactly balanced by the probability of the reverse move from 22) to z<,J> 22)... 

Tsai, C.J. Jordan, K.D., Use of the histogram and jump-walking methods for overcoming slow barrier crossing behavior in Monte Carlo simulations applications to the phase transitions in the (Ar)i3 and (FbOjs clusters, J. Chem. Phys. 1993, 99, 6957... 

Among the methods discussed in this book, FEP is the most commonly used to carry out alchemical transformations described in Sect. 2.8 of Chap. 2. Probability distribution and TI methods, in conjunction with MD, are favored if there is an order parameter in the system, defined as a dynamical variable. Among these methods, ABF, derived in Chap. 4, appears to be nearly optimal. Its accuracy, however, has not been tested critically for systems that relax slowly along the degrees of freedom perpendicular to the order parameter. Adaptive histogram approaches, primarily used in Monte Carlo simulations - e.g., multicanonical, WL and, in particular, the transition matrix method - yield superior results in applications to phase transitions,... 

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