Phys. Rev. E 65, 036110 (2002) [9 pages]Numerical comparison of two approaches for the study of phase transitions in small systemsReceived 3 October 2001; published 11 February 2002 We compare two recently proposed methods for the characterization of phase transitions in small systems. The validity and usefulness of these approaches are studied for the cases of the q=4 and q=5 Potts model, i.e., systems where a thermodynamic limit and exact results exist. Guided by this analysis we then discuss the helix-coil transition in polyalanine, an example of structural transitions in biological molecules. © 2002 The American Physical Society URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevE.65.036110
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevE.65.036110
PACS:
05.70.Fh, 05.50.+q, 64.60.-i, 87.15.He
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