We present an extension of the semi-grandcanonical (SGC) ensemble that we
refer to as the variance-constrained semi-grandcanonical (VC-SGC) ensemble. It
allows for transmutation Monte Carlo simulations of multicomponent systems in
multiphase regions of the phase diagram and lends itself to scalable
simulations on massively parallel platforms. By combining transmutation moves
with molecular dynamics steps structural relaxations and thermal vibrations in
realistic alloys can be taken into account. In this way, we construct a robust
and efficient simulation technique that is ideally suited for large-scale
simulations of precipitation in multicomponent systems in the presence of
structural disorder. To illustrate the algorithm introduced in this work, we
study the precipitation of Cu in nanocrystalline Fe.Comment: 12 pages; 10 figure
