Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 3, 2026

Optical Trap Loading of Dielectric Microparticles In Air
Published on: February 5, 2017
Dynamical traps in Wang-Landau sampling of continuous systems: Mechanism and solution
Yang Wei Koh1, Adelene Y L Sim1, Hwee Kuan Lee1
1Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis Street, No. 07-01, Matrix, Singapore 138671.
Abstract:
We study the mechanism behind dynamical trappings experienced during Wang-Landau sampling of continuous systems reported by several authors. Trapping is caused by the random walker coming close to a local energy extremum, although the mechanism is different from that of the critical slowing-down encountered in conventional molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo simulations. When trapped, the random walker misses the entire or even several stages of Wang-Landau modification factor reduction, leading to inadequate sampling of the configuration space and a rough density of states, even though the modification factor has been reduced to very small values. Trapping is dependent on specific systems, the choice of energy bins, and the Monte Carlo step size, making it highly unpredictable. A general, simple, and effective solution is proposed where the configurations of multiple parallel Wang-Landau trajectories are interswapped to prevent trapping. We also explain why swapping frees the random walker from such traps. The efficacy of the proposed algorithm is demonstrated.
Related Concept Videos
Sampling Continuous Time Signal
In the...
Linear Approximation in Time Domain
For a simple pendulum with a mass evenly distributed along its length and the center of mass located at half the pendulum's length,...
Sampling Theorem
First Law: Particles in One-dimensional Equilibrium
First Law: Particles in Two-dimensional Equilibrium
Newton's first law tells us about...
BIBO stability of continuous and discrete -time systems
To determine the BIBO stability, the convolution integral is utilized when a bounded continuous-time input is applied to a Linear Time-Invariant (LTI) system....

