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Replica Exchange Nested Sampling

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OA
AI
N
Nico Unglert
L
Lívia B. Pártay
G
Georg K. H. Madsen *
DOI:10.1021/acs.jctc.5c00588delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Nested sampling (NS) has emerged as a powerful tool for exploring thermodynamic properties in materials science. However, its efficiency is often hindered by the limitations of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling. In strongly multimodal landscapes, MCMC struggles to traverse energy barriers, leading to biased sampling and reduced accuracy. To address this issue, we introduce replica-exchange nested sampling (RENS), a novel enhancement that integrates replica-exchange moves into the NS framework. Inspired by Hamiltonian replica exchange methods, RENS connects independent NS simulations performed under different external conditions, facilitating ergodic sampling and significantly improving computational efficiency. We demonstrate the effectiveness of RENS using four test systems of increasing complexity: a one-dimensional toy system, periodic Lennard–Jones, the two-scale core-softened Jagla model, and a machine-learned interatomic potential for silicon. Our results show that RENS not only accelerates convergence but also allows the effective handling of challenging cases where independent NS fails, thereby expanding the applicability of NS to more realistic material models.
Keywords:
nested sampling
replica exchange
Markov chain Monte Carlo
thermodynamic properties
materials science

Journal

Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation cover
Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation
IF:
5.5
Papers:
1.1W
Citations:
5.4W

Organization

I
Institute of Materials Chemistry
Scholars:
45
Papers: 21
Citations: 0
U
University of Warwick
Scholars:
2.2W
Papers: 2.2W
Citations: 85