Eur. Phys. J. B (2013) 86: 56
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2012-30954-7

Regular Article

Efficient method of finding scaling exponents from finite-size Monte-Carlo simulations

Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology, Akadeemia tee 21, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia

^a e-mail: indrek@mare.ee

Received: 14 May 2012
Received in final form: 18 October 2012
Published online: 18 February 2013

Abstract

Monte-Carlo simulations are routinely used for estimating the scaling exponents of complex systems. However, due to finite-size effects, determining the exponent values is often difficult and not reliable. Here, we present a novel technique of dealing with the problem of finite-size scaling. This new method allows not only to decrease the uncertainties of the scaling exponents, but makes it also possible to determine the exponents of the asymptotic corrections to the scaling laws. The efficiency of the technique is demonstrated by finding the scaling exponent of uncorrelated percolation cluster hulls.