RECONSTRUCTION OF A FIRST-ORDER PHASE-TRANSITION FROM COMPUTER-SIMULATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL PHASES AND SUBPHASES

We present a method for investigating first-order phase transitions us ing Monte Carlo simulations. It relies on the multiple-histogram metho d and uses solely histograms of individual phases. In addition, we ext end the method to include histograms of subphases. The free energy dif ference between phases, which is necessary for attributing the correct statistical weights to the histograms, is determined by a detour in c ontrol parameter space via auxiliary systems with short relaxation tim es. We apply this method to a recently introduced model for structure formation in polypeptides for which other methods fail.