Comparison of the microcanonical population annealing algorithm with the Wang-Landau algorithm.

The development of new algorithms for simulations in physics is as important as the development of new analytical methods. In this paper, we present a comparison of the recently developed microcanonical population annealing (MCPA) algorithm with the rather mature Wang-Landau algorithm. The comparison is performed on two cases of the Potts model that exhibit a first-order phase transition.

Blume-Capel model analysis with a microcanonical population annealing method.

We present a modification of the Rose-Machta algorithm [N. Rose and J. Machta, Phys.

Finite-size analysis in neural network classification of critical phenomena.

We analyze the problem of supervised learning of ferromagnetic phase transitions from the statistical physics perspective. We consider two systems in two universality classes, the two-dimensional Ising model and two-dimensional Baxter-Wu model, and perform careful finite-size analysis of the results of the supervised learning of the phases of each model. We find that the variance of the neural network (NN) output function (VOF) as a function of temperature has a peak in the critical region.

Topology of WC/Co Interfaces in Cemented Carbides.

WC-Co cemented carbides build one of the important classes of metal matrix composites. We show in this paper that the use of machine vision methods makes it possible to obtain sufficiently informative statistical data on the topology of the interfaces between tungsten carbide grains (WC) and a cobalt matrix (Co). For the first time, the outlines of the regions of the cobalt binder were chosen as a tool for describing the structure of cemented carbides.

Understanding population annealing Monte Carlo simulations.

Population annealing is a recent addition to the arsenal of the practitioner in computer simulations in statistical physics and it proves to deal well with systems with complex free-energy landscapes. Above all else, it promises to deliver unrivaled parallel scaling qualities, being suitable for parallel machines of the biggest caliber. Here we study population annealing using as the main example the two-dimensional Ising model, which allows for particularly clean comparisons due to the available exact results and the wealth of published simulational studies employing other approaches.

Acceptance rate is a thermodynamic function in local Monte Carlo algorithms.

We study properties of Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations of classical spin models with local updates. We derive analytic expressions for the mean value of the acceptance rate of single-spin-flip algorithms for the one-dimensional Ising model. We find that for the Metropolis algorithm the average acceptance rate is a linear function of energy.

Synchronization of conservative parallel discrete event simulations on a small-world network.

We examine the question of the influence of sparse long-range communications on the synchronization in parallel discrete event simulations. We build a model of the evolution of local virtual times in a conservative algorithm including several choices of local links. All network realizations belong to the small-world network class.

Test of multiscaling in a diffusion-limited-aggregation model using an off-lattice killing-free algorithm.

We test the multiscaling issue of diffusion-limited-aggregation (DLA) clusters using a modified algorithm. This algorithm eliminates killing the particles at the death circle. Instead, we return them to the birth circle at a random relative angle taken from the evaluated distribution.

Critical amplitude ratio of the susceptibility in the random-site two-dimensional Ising model.

We present a different way of probing the universality class of the site-diluted two-dimensional Ising model. We analyze Monte Carlo data for the magnetic susceptibility, introducing a fitting procedure in the critical region applicable even for a single sample with quenched disorder. This gives us the possibility to fit simultaneously the critical exponent, the critical amplitude, and the sample-dependent pseudocritical temperature.