Simulation via direct computation of partition functions

In this paper, we demonstrate the efficiency of simulations via direct computation of the partition function under various macroscopic conditions, such as different temperatures or volumes. The method can compute partition functions by flattening histograms, through, for example, the Wang-Landau recursive scheme, outside the energy space. This method offers a more general and flexible framework for handling various types of ensembles, especially ones in which computation of the density of states is not convenient. It can be easily scaled to large systems, and it is flexible in incorporating Monte Carlo cluster algorithms or molecular dynamics. High efficiency is shown in simulating large Ising models, in finding ground states of simple protein models, and in studying the liquid-vapor phase transition of a simple fluid. The method is very simple to implement and we expect it to be efficient in studying complex systems with rugged energy landscapes, e.g., biological macromolecules.