397,371 research outputs found
Monte Carlo simulations of 4d simplicial quantum gravity
Dynamical triangulations of four-dimensional Euclidean quantum gravity give
rise to an interesting, numerically accessible model of quantum gravity. We
give a simple introduction to the model and discuss two particularly important
issues. One is that contrary to recent claims there is strong analytical and
numerical evidence for the existence of an exponential bound that makes the
partition function well-defined. The other is that there may be an ambiguity in
the choice of the measure of the discrete model which could even lead to the
existence of different universality classes.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX, epsf, 4 uuencoded figures; contribution to the JMP
special issue on "Quantum Geometry and Diffeomorphism-Invariant Quantum Field
Theory
Mostly Harmless Simulations? Using Monte Carlo Studies for Estimator Selection
We consider two recent suggestions for how to perform an empirically
motivated Monte Carlo study to help select a treatment effect estimator under
unconfoundedness. We show theoretically that neither is likely to be
informative except under restrictive conditions that are unlikely to be
satisfied in many contexts. To test empirical relevance, we also apply the
approaches to a real-world setting where estimator performance is known. Both
approaches are worse than random at selecting estimators which minimise
absolute bias. They are better when selecting estimators that minimise mean
squared error. However, using a simple bootstrap is at least as good and often
better. For now researchers would be best advised to use a range of estimators
and compare estimates for robustness
Interdisciplinary Monte Carlo Simulations
Biological, linguistic, sociological and economical applications of
statistical physics are reviewed here. They have been made on a variety of
computers over a dozen years, not only at the NIC computers. A longer
description can be found in our new book, an emphasis on teaching in
Eur.J.Phys. 26, S 79 and AIP Conf. Proc. 779, 49, 56, 69 and 75.Comment: 11 pages including many Figs.; for 3rd NIC Symposium, Julich, 3/0
Effect of atomic scale plasticity on hydrogen diffusion in iron: Quantum mechanically informed and on-the-fly kinetic Monte Carlo simulations
We present an off-lattice, on-the-fly kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) model for simulating stress-assisted diffusion and trapping of hydrogen by crystalline defects in iron. Given an embedded atom (EAM) potential as input, energy barriers for diffusion are ascertained on the fly from the local environments of H atoms. To reduce computational cost, on-the-fly calculations are supplemented with precomputed strain-dependent energy barriers in defect-free parts of the crystal. These precomputed barriers, obtained with high-accuracy density functional theory calculations, are used to ascertain the veracity of the EAM barriers and correct them when necessary. Examples of bulk diffusion in crystals containing a screw dipole and vacancies are presented. Effective diffusivities obtained from KMC simulations are found to be in good agreement with theory. Our model provides an avenue for simulating the interaction of hydrogen with cracks, dislocations, grain boundaries, and other lattice defects, over extended time scales, albeit at atomistic length scales
Mostly harmless simulations? Using Monte Carlo studies for estimator selection
We consider two recent suggestions for how to perform an empirically motivated Monte Carlo study to help select a treatment effect estimator under unconfoundedness. We show theoretically that neither is likely to be informative except under restrictive conditions that are unlikely to be satisfied in many contexts. To test empirical relevance, we also apply the approaches to a real-world setting where estimator performance is known. Both approaches are worse than random at selecting estimators which minimise absolute bias. They are better when selecting estimators that minimise mean squared error. However, using a simple bootstrap is at least as good and often better. For now researchers would be best advised to use a range of estimators and compare estimates for robustness
Transition Matrix Monte Carlo
Although histogram methods have been extremely effective for analyzing data
from Monte Carlo simulations, they do have certain limitations, including the
range over which they are valid and the difficulties of combining data from
independent simulations. In this paper, we describe an complementary approach
to extracting information from Monte Carlo simulations that uses the matrix of
transition probabilities. Combining the Transition Matrix with an N-fold way
simulation technique produces an extremely flexible and efficient approach to
rather general Monte Carlo simulations.Comment: Maui Conference on Statistical Physic
- …