Statistical Mechanics - Homework Assignment 4

Alejandro G omez Espinosa March 24, 2013

Pathria 7.14 Consider an n-dimensional Bose gas whose single-particle energy spectrum is given by ps , where s is some positive number. Discuss the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation in this system, especially its dependence on the numbers n and s. Study the thermodynamic behavior of this system and show that, P = sU , nV CV (T ) = n N k, s and CP (T ) = n + 1 Nk s (1)

To follow the procedure of section 7.1, we have to calculate the density of states in an n-dimensional Bose gas. For this, we have to nd the number of microstates available (eq. 2.4.4): (P ) 1 hn ...
pP

dn qdn p

V Pn hn

(2)

where V is the total volume and p the momentum. Since the energy is proportional to p, then: = Cps pn = C
n/s

where C is the constant of proportionality. Replacing p with : () V hn C

n/s

(3)

Using (3) into equation (7.1.4) of the density of states, we found: a() = d() V n d = n/s n n/s1 d d C h s (4)

Now, let us follow the procedure of the section 7.1 using (4): P kT n n/s1 ln(1 ze )d C n/s hn s 0 V n s n/s s = n/s n ln(1 ze ) n C h s n 0 e V z n/s = d 1 ze C n/s hn 0 V n/s = d C n/s hn 0 z 1 e 1 = V

n/s
0

ze d 1 ze

gomez@physics.rutgers.edu

if x = and dx = d:
V dx 1 x n/s n C h 0 z e 1 xn/s dx V (C )n/s hn 0 z 1 ex 1 n V n g ( z ) +1 +1 s (C )n/s hn s x n/s

= = P kT =

where g (z ) are the Bose-Einstein functions. Then, let us calculate the internal energy of the system: U = kT 2 = kT 2 T V
2

PV kT

z,V

n +1 s V2 n +1 = kT 2 n/s n g n +1 (z ) s s c h n V2 = (kT )n/s+1 n/s n g n +1 (z ) s c h s n PV n = kT = PV s kT s cn/s hn gn +1 (z ) s = P

(kT )n/s

n k n/s T n/s1 s n +1 s

sU nV

that is the expression need it. To compute the specic heat of the gas, since T , the pressure and the specic heat of the gas approach their classical values, therefore we can use P V = N kT in the expression above: n n (5) U = P V = N kT s s to calculate the specic heat: Cv Nk = = Cv = Finally, Cv Cp = N k Cp = N k + Cp = n + 1 Nk s n Nk s 1 Nk 1 Nk n Nk s U T n N kT T s

n s

Pathria 7.21 Show that the mean energy per photon in a blackbody radiation cavity is very nearly 2.7 kT . To calculate the mean energy per photon in a blackbody radiation cavity, we need the total energy density in the cavity (eq. 7.3.12): 2 k4 4 U =V T (6) 15h3 c3 and the number of photons in the cavity (eq. 7.3.23): N =V therefore: = = = = U N 2 k 4 T 4 2 h3 c3 15h3 c3 2 (3)(kT )3 4 kT 30( (3)) 4 kT = 2.7kT 30(1.2020) 2 (3)(kT )3 2 h3 c3 (7)

Pathria 7.34 Assuming the excitations to be phonons ( = Ak ), show that their contribution toward the specic heat of an n-dimensional Debye system is proportional to T n . Note that the elements selenium and tellurium form crystals in which atomic chains are arranged in parallel so that in a certain sense they behave as one-dimensional; accordingly, over a certain range of temperatures, the T 1 -law holds. For a similar reason, graphite obeys a T 2 -law over certain range of temperatures. The specic heat in the Debye approximation (eq. 7.4.17) is given by: CV (T ) = 3N kD(x0 ) where x0 =
D kT

(8)

and D(x0 ) is the Debye function, which in the general case is: Dn (x0 ) = n xn 0
x0 0

xn dx ex 1

(9)

Replacing the value of x0 in (9) we found: Dn D kT = n

D kT n 0

nk n T n xn dx = nn ex 1 D

xn dx ex 1

(10)

Since we need to check the proportionality in the temperature and the integral does not depend upon T , is not necessary to calculate the integral. Plugging (10) into (8): CV (T ) = 3N k nk n T n nn D
0

xn dx ex 1

CV T n

(11)