Metastability within the generalized canonical ensemble

We discuss a property of our recently introduced generalized canonical ensemble [M. Costeniuc, R.S. Ellis, H. Touchette, B. Turkington, The generalized canonical ensemble and its universal equivalence with the microcanonical ensemble, J. Stat. Phys. 119 (2005) 1283]. We show that this ensemble can be used to transform metastable or unstable (nonequilibrium) states of the standard canonical ensemble into stable (equilibrium) states within the generalized canonical ensemble. Equilibrium calculations within the generalized canonical ensemble can thus be used to obtain information about nonequilibrium states in the canonical ensemble.