  We present how entropy estimates and logarithmic Sobolev inequalities on the
one hand, and the notion of quasi-stationary distribution on the other hand,
are useful tools to analyze metastable overdamped Langevin dynamics, in
particular to quantify the degree of metastability. We discuss the interest of
these approaches to estimate the efficiency of some classical algorithms used
to speed up the sampling, and to evaluate the error introduced by some
coarse-graining procedures. This paper is a summary of a plenary talk given by
the author at the ENUMATH 2011 conference.
