@techreport{HartmannRichterSchuetteetal.2017, author = {Carsten Hartmann and Lorenz Richter and Christof Sch{\"u}tte and Wei Zhang}, title = {Variational characterization of free energy: Theory and algorithms}, institution = {ZIB}, address = {Takustr. 7, 14195 Berlin}, number = {17-52}, language = {eng}, year = {2017} }