ISSN:
1572-9613
Keywords:
Monte Carlo methods
;
Ising model
;
computational physics
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Physics
Notes:
Abstract We discuss the conceptual differences between the broad histogram (BHM) and reweighting methods in general, and particularly the so-called multicanonical (MUCA) approaches. The main difference is that BHM is based on microcanonical, fixed-energy averages which depend only on the good statistics taken inside each energy level. The detailed distribution of visits among different energy levels, determined by the particular dynamic rule one adopts, is irrelevant. Contrary to MUCA, where the results are extracted from the dynamic rule itself, within BHM any microcanonical dynamics could be adopted. As a numerical test, we have used both BHM and MUCA in order to obtain the spectral energy degeneracy of the Ising model in 4×4×4 and 32×32 lattices, for which exact results are known. We discuss why BHM gives more accurate results than MUCA, even using the same Markovian sequence of states. In addition, such an advantage increases for larger systems.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1018679025763
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