Speaker
Marco Panero
Description
We discuss an efficient method to compute expectation values of generic observables in lattice Monte Carlo calculations, by evaluating the work performed during a non-equilibrium transformation between configurations in different equilibrium ensembles. This technique, which relies on a theorem proven by Christopher Jarzynski in 1997, has potential applications for a broad spectrum of challenging problems in QCD and in other strongly coupled gauge theories. We present results of two benchmark studies: the computation of the free energy associated with a fluctuating interface and the determination of the equation of state of a gas of hadrons.
