Kinetic Flat-Histogram Simulations of Non-Equilibrium Stochastic Processes with Continuous and Discontinuous Phase Transitions

Fuente: arXiv
Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alencar, L. M. C., Alves, T. F. A., Alves, G. A., Lima, F. W. S., Macedo-Filho, A., Ferreira, R. S.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
Subjects:
Online Access:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866908854336356352
author Alencar, L. M. C.
Alves, T. F. A.
Alves, G. A.
Lima, F. W. S.
Macedo-Filho, A.
Ferreira, R. S.
author_facet Alencar, L. M. C.
Alves, T. F. A.
Alves, G. A.
Lima, F. W. S.
Macedo-Filho, A.
Ferreira, R. S.
contents As far as we know, there is no flat-histogram algorithm to sample the stationary distribution of non-equilibrium stochastic processes. The present work addresses this gap by introducing a generalization of the Wang-Landau algorithm, applied to non-equilibrium stochastic processes with local transitions. The main idea is to sample macroscopic states using a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm to generate trial moves, which are accepted or rejected with a probability that depends inversely on the stationary distribution. The stationary distribution is refined through the simulation by a modification factor, leading to convergence toward the true stationary distribution. A visitation histogram is also accumulated, and the modification factor is updated when the histogram satisfies a flatness condition. The stationary distribution is obtained in the limit where the modification factor reaches a threshold value close to unity. To test the algorithm, we compare simulation results for several stochastic processes with theoretically known behavior. In addition, results from the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm are compared with standard exact stochastic simulations. We show that the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm can be applied to phase transitions in stochastic processes with bistability, which describe a wide range of phenomena such as epidemic spreading, population growth, chemical reactions, and consensus formation. With some adaptations, the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm can also be applied to stochastic models on lattices and complex networks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_20651
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Kinetic Flat-Histogram Simulations of Non-Equilibrium Stochastic Processes with Continuous and Discontinuous Phase Transitions
Alencar, L. M. C.
Alves, T. F. A.
Alves, G. A.
Lima, F. W. S.
Macedo-Filho, A.
Ferreira, R. S.
Statistical Mechanics
As far as we know, there is no flat-histogram algorithm to sample the stationary distribution of non-equilibrium stochastic processes. The present work addresses this gap by introducing a generalization of the Wang-Landau algorithm, applied to non-equilibrium stochastic processes with local transitions. The main idea is to sample macroscopic states using a kinetic Monte Carlo algorithm to generate trial moves, which are accepted or rejected with a probability that depends inversely on the stationary distribution. The stationary distribution is refined through the simulation by a modification factor, leading to convergence toward the true stationary distribution. A visitation histogram is also accumulated, and the modification factor is updated when the histogram satisfies a flatness condition. The stationary distribution is obtained in the limit where the modification factor reaches a threshold value close to unity. To test the algorithm, we compare simulation results for several stochastic processes with theoretically known behavior. In addition, results from the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm are compared with standard exact stochastic simulations. We show that the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm can be applied to phase transitions in stochastic processes with bistability, which describe a wide range of phenomena such as epidemic spreading, population growth, chemical reactions, and consensus formation. With some adaptations, the kinetic flat-histogram algorithm can also be applied to stochastic models on lattices and complex networks.
title Kinetic Flat-Histogram Simulations of Non-Equilibrium Stochastic Processes with Continuous and Discontinuous Phase Transitions
topic Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.20651