Computer simulation of fluid phase transitions

The goal of accurately locating fluid phase boundaries by means of computer simulation is hampered by difficulties associated with sampling both coexi sting phases in a single simulation. We explain the background to these dif ficulties and describe how they can be tackled using a synthesis of biased Monte Carlo sampling and histogram extrapolation methods, in conjunction wi th a standard fluid simulation algorithm. The combined approach provides a powerful method for tracing fluid phase boundaries. (C) 2001 American Assoc iation of Physics Teachers.