Path factorization approach to stochastic simulations

Manuel Athènes (1) , Vasily Bulatov (2)

1 SRMP - Service de recherches de métallurgie physique
2 LLNL - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

The computational efficiency of stochastic simulation algorithms is notoriously limited by the kinetic trapping of the simulated trajectories within low energy basins. Here we present a new method that overcomes kinetic trapping while still preserving exact statistics of escape paths from the trapping basins. The method is based on path factorization of the evolution operator and requires no prior knowledge of the underlying energy landscape. The efficiency of the new method is demonstrated in simulations of anomalous diffusion and phase separation in a binary alloy, two stochastic models presenting severe kinetic trapping.

Domaines: Physique Nucléaire Théorique [nucl-th]; Physique Nucléaire Expérimentale [nucl-ex]

Manuel Athènes, Vasily Bulatov. Path factorization approach to stochastic simulations. Physical Review Letters, 2014, 113 (23), pp.230601. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.230601⟩. ⟨cea-03190120⟩