A variational framework for the inverse Henderson problem of statistical mechanics (Q2162499)

The inverse Henderson problem refers to the determination of the pair potential which specifies the interactions in an ensemble of classical particles in continuous space, given the density and the equilibrium pair correlation function of these particles as data. In the paper, the authors show that in the thermodynamic limit analogous connections exist between the specific relative entropy introduced by \textit{H.-O. Georgii} and \textit{H. Zessin} [Probab. Theory Relat. Fields 96, No. 2, 177--204 (1993; Zbl 0792.60024)] and a proper formulation of the inverse Monte Carlo iteration in the full space. This provides a rigorous variational framework for the inverse Henderson problem, valid within a large class of pair potentials.