Article: Bayesian estimates of free energies from nonequilibrium work data in the presence of instrument noise
Paul Maragakis, Felix Ritort, Carlos Bustamante, Martin Karplus, Gavin E. Crooks, J. Chem. Phys. 129, 024102 (2008)
Abstract
The Jarzynski equality and the fluctuation theorem relate equilibrium free energy differences to nonequilibrium measurements of the work. These relations extend to single-molecule experiments that have probed the finite-time thermodynamics of proteins and nucleic acids. The effects of experimental error and instrument noise have not been considered previously. Here, we present a Bayesian formalism for estimating free energy changes from nonequilibrium work measurements that compensates for instrument noise and combines data from multiple driving protocols.
