Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol. 114, Nos. 5/6, March 2004. p. 1303-1323.
Systematic inaccuracy is inherent in any computational estimate of a non-linear average, such as the free energy difference DF between two states or systems, because of the availability of only a finite number of data values, N. In previous work, we outlined the fundamental statistical description of this ‘‘finite-sampling error’’...