  In body-centered cubic (bcc) crystals, ${1}{2}111$ screw dislocations exhibit
high intrinsic lattice friction as a consequence of their non-planar core
structure, which results in a periodic energy landscape known as the Peierls
potential, $U_P$. The main features determining plastic flow, including its
stress and temperature dependences, can be derived directly from this
potential, hence its importance. In this Letter, we use thermodynamic
integration to provide a full thermodynamic extension of $U_P$ for bcc Fe. We
compute the Peierls free energy path as a function of stress and temperature
and show that the critical stress vanishes at 700K, supplying the qualitative
elements that explain plastic behavior in the athermal limit.
