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Free Energy Perturbation
Free energy perturbation (FEP) is a method based on statistical mechanics that is used in computational chemistry for computing free energy differences from molecular dynamics or Metropolis Monte Carlo simulations. The FEP method was introduced by Robert W. Zwanzig in 1954. According to the free-energy perturbation method, the free energy difference for going from state A to state B is obtained from the following equation, known as the ''Zwanzig equation'': :\Delta F(\mathbf \rightarrow \mathbf) = F_\mathbf - F_\mathbf = -k_\mathrm T \ln \left \langle \exp \left ( - \frac \right ) \right \rangle _\mathbf where ''T'' is the temperature, ''k''B is Boltzmann's constant, and the angular brackets denote an average over a simulation run for state A. In practice, one runs a normal simulation for state A, but each time a new configuration is accepted, the energy for state B is also computed. The difference between states A and B may be in the atom types involved, in which case the Î ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Statistical Mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic behavior of nature from the behavior of such ensembles. Statistical mechanics arose out of the development of classical thermodynamics, a field for which it was successful in explaining macroscopic physical properties—such as temperature, pressure, and heat capacity—in terms of microscopic parameters that fluctuate about average values and are characterized by probability distributions. This established the fields of statistical thermodynamics and statistical physics. The founding of the field of statistical mechanics is generally credited to three physicists: * Ludwig Boltzmann, who developed the fundamental interpretation of entropy in terms of a collection of microstates *James Clerk Maxwell, who developed models of probability di ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |