Variational path sampling of rare dynamical events

2025/02/03 by Singh, Aditya N., Das, Avishek, Limmer, David T. · 5 citations
#Chemical Physics (physics.chem-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences #Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2502.01852

Abstract

This article reviews the concepts and methods of variational path sampling. These methods allow computational studies of rare events in systems driven arbitrarily far from equilibrium. Based upon a statistical mechanics of trajectory space and leveraging the theory of large deviations, they provide a perspective with which dynamical phenomena can be studied with the same types of ensemble reweighting ideas that have been used for static equilibrium properties. Applications to chemical, material, and biophysical systems are highlighted.

Cited by

• Linear approximations of large deviations: Cubic diffusion test
• Trust Region Constrained Measure Transport in Path Space for Stochastic Optimal Control and Inference
• Conditional splitting probabilities for hidden-state inference in drift-diffusive processes
• Large deviations of ionic currents in dilute electrolytes
• Timescales for stochastic barrier crossing: inferring the potential from nonequilibrium data

Related

• Dynamical Rare event simulation techniques for equilibrium and non-equilibrium systems
• The "weighted ensemble" path sampling method is statistically exact for a broad class of stochastic processes and binning procedures
• TRANSITIONPATHSAMPLING: Throwing Ropes Over Rough Mountain Passes, in the Dark
• Transition-Path Theory and Path-Finding Algorithms for the Study of Rare Events
• Doob's Lagrangian: A Sample-Efficient Variational Approach to Transition Path Sampling