ABSTRACT
The reverse Monte Carlo (RMC) method has been widely used to gain 3D structural ordering information from experimental scattering data. Recently, we have introduced a novel application of RMC, viz., calculating thermodynamic properties of crystalline materials, construction of phase diagram and rapid estimation of the local structural order [Agrahari and Chatterjee, Physical Review E, 104, 044129 (2021).]. The method has been shown to be accurate and orders-of-magnitude faster than standard Monte Carlo simulations – this makes the approach quite promising. However, the error in RMC has never been systematically quantified. The goal here is to perform a thorough investigation into the types of error in RMC-based thermodynamic calculations, assess the relative magnitude of these errors, and develop strategies to improve the accuracy. Some of the conclusions presented are also relevant to previous experiment-based RMC implementations.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 In general, relative entropy is calculated as where is the reference/exact distribution, and s an approximate one.