Phys 7230

Sample final exam problems

1 Classical Harmonic Oscillator

Calculate the classical partition function of an oscillator whose energy is given by E =
p2 2 2
2m
+ mω2 x . Use it to calculate its heat capacity.

Solution

The partition function is given by

Z ∞ Z ∞
dp − p2 − mω2 x2
Z= dx e 2mT 2T .
−∞ −∞ 2πh̄
√ √
Changing variables x = T u, p = T v, we find
Z ∞ Z ∞
dv − u2 − mω2 v2
Z=T du e 2m 2 .
−∞ −∞ 2πh̄
The free energy is then
"Z #
∞ Z ∞
dv − u2 − mω2 v2
F = −T log Z = −T log T − T log du e 2m 2 .
−∞ −∞ 2πh̄

The heat capacity is

d2 F
c = −T= 1,
dT 2
in accordance with the equipartition theorem.

2 Ideal gas
Classical ideal monoatomic gas with N atoms is kept in a cylinder of height H, as shown
in the figure 1, at temperature T and in the presence of gravity force mg acting on each
atom.
Determine its pressure on the bottom of the cylinder, as well as its pressure on the top
of the cylinder. Discuss the behavior of both pressures as H  T /(mg) (or H  T /(mg)).
 Figure 1: Cylinder with a gas.

Solution

The partition function is given by

" Z ∞ 2 #N
1 ZH 2 − mgx p dp − p2
Z= πR dx e T e 2mT .
N ! H0 0 2π 2 h̄3
Here H0 = 0, however, we keep it as H0 for convenience. Doing the integrals gives
√
R2 mT 5
"  #
mgH
− T 0 − mgH
F = −T N log 3 √ e −e T + T N.
h̄ gN 8π
Pressure on top of the cylinder is calculated by means of
1 ∂F N mg 1
Ptop = − 2
= 2 mgH ,
πR ∂H πR e T − 1

where H0 = 0 was substituted. We see that if H  T /(mg), then Ptop vanishes. If, on
the other hand, H  T /(mg), then Ptop = N T /V , where V = πR2 H, as it should in the
standard ideal gas.
Pressure on the base of the cylinder is calculated by means of
1 ∂F N mg 1
Pbottom = = ,
2
πR ∂H0 πR 1 − e− mgH
2
T

where again H0 = 0 was substituted. Notice the positive sign in front of the derivative
over H0 , resulting from the fact that increasing H0 compresses the gas. This is where
introducing H0 at the very beginning pays off.
Notice that if H  T /(mg), Pbottom = mgN/(πR2 ). In other words, it is the entire
weight of all the atoms in gas applied to the bottom of the cylinder. If H  T /(mg), then
Pbottom = N T /V .

2
 Finally, we observe that

(Pbottom − Ptop ) πR2 = N mg,

as it should simply because of mechanical equilibrium (otherwise, the container would fly
away).

3 Ultrarelativistic electron gas

When an electron gas at zero temperature (or at low temperature where T  mc2 ) is
compressed so that its density goes over some critical value nc , its chemical potential
becomes so high, µ  mc2 , that the electrons become ultrarelativistic. In this regime,
their energy is proportional to their momentum E = cp. Calculate the pressure of this gas
of density n  nc kept at at zero temperature. Estimate nc .

Solution

We first calculate the grand canonical potential of this gas

Z
V p2 dp  µ
− cp

Ω = −2T log 1 + e T T .
2π 2 h̄3
The factor of 2 appears because of the spin-1/2 of the electrons.
Taking this integral by parts, as is standard here, gives
V Z cp3 dp E
Ω=− 2 3 cp
− µ =− .
3π h̄ eT T +1 3
Here E is the energy of the system, given by
V Z cp3 dp
E= cp µ .
π 2 h̄3 e T − T + 1
Thus the pressure is given by
Ω E
P =− = ,
V 3V
which is in fact a standard expression for a relativistic gas.
Since we work at zero temperature, the energy is given by
V Z pf 3 V
E= 2 3 cp dp = 2 3 cp4f ,
π h̄ 0 4π h̄
where µ = cpf . The particle number is
Z pf
p2 dp p3f
n= = 2 3.
0 π 2 h̄3 3π h̄
3
Solving for pf and substituting into E we find
4 2 4
3 3 π 3 h̄cn 3
E= V.
4
This gives
1 4
(3π 2 ) 3 h̄cn 3
P = .
4
In order for the gas to be relativistic, we need pf  mc. This gives

m3 c3
n = nc .
3π 2 h̄3

4
4 Bose-Einstein condensation in a Bose-Fermi mix-
ture
In the experiments done at JILA, a number noninteracting fermionic atoms of mass m are
kept in equilibrium with a number of noninteracting bosonic molecules of mass 2m. Each
fermionic atom has spin 1/2 and can thus be in one of two possible states, with spin +1/2
and −1/2. Two fermionic atoms of opposite spin, when they collide, can bind together to
form one bosonic molecule, which has no spin. The binding energy of the molecule is 0 , in
other words, this is the energy which gets absorbed during the formation of the molecule.
0 can be either positive or negative, and can be easily controlled experimentally. The
bosonic molecule can freely decay back into two fermionic atoms with opposite spins.
The experiment begins when N/2 spin-up atoms and N/2 spin down atoms (so that
their total number Nf = N/2 + N/2 = N ) are put into a box of volume V . Then some of
the atoms combine to form molecules until the system reaches equilibrium.
(In truth, the atoms and molecules reside inside a harmonic trap instead of a box, but
let’s ignore it for the sake of this problem. In truth, they are also not noninteracting, but
we will ignore this as well).
(a) Treat the fermionic and bosonic atoms as two independent systems in equilibrium,
with fermionic system having entropy Sf (Nf ), where Nf is the total number of fermions,
and bosonic system having entropy Sb (Nb ). Prove that at equilibrium

2µf = µb , (4.1)

where µf and µb are fermionic and bosonic chemical potentials, respectively. Hint: Use
the fact that at equilibrium the total entropy takes the maximum possible value.
(b) The energy of fermions and bosons is given by

p2 p2
Ef = , Eb = 0 + .
2m 4m
Calculate the number of bosons Nb at zero temperature T = 0 as a function of 0 , N , and
V . Note that all the bosons will be Bose condensed under these conditions. Treat bosons
and fermions as two independent systems whose chemical potentials satisfy the condition
Eq. (4.1).
(c) Determine the temperature Tc at which the Bose condensate disappears. Note that
you won’t be able to find it explicitly, but you will be able to write down an equation for
Tc , which cannot be solved analytically but can in principle be analyzed numerically.

Solution

(a) The total entropy is

S = Sf (Nf ) + Sb (Nb ).

5
As atoms convert into molecules and back, a decrease of the atomic number by 2 is accom-
panied by the increase of the molecular number by 1. Therefore, the number of molecules
is given by Nb = (N − Nf )/2. This gives

S(Nf ) = Sf (Nf ) + Sb ((N − Nf )/2).

Maximizing S with respect to Nf , we find

∂S ∂Sf 1 ∂Sb
= − = 0.
∂Nf ∂Nf 2 ∂Nb
∂S
Introducing µ = −T ∂N , we find
µb
µf = .
2
(b) The molecules obey Bose-Einstein distribution,
1
nb (p) = p2 +0 µ
.
− Tb
e 4mT −1
Bose-Einstein distribution ensures the following basic condition

µb ≤ 0 .

Since we work at zero temperature, nb (p) becomes especially simple: nb (p) = 0 for all
|p| > 0. nb (0) is also equal to zero if µb < 0 . Finally, if µb = 0 all the bosons are
Bose condensed. That means, nb (0) coincides with the total number of molecules Nb .
Alternatively, we could say that if Nb 6= 0, then µb = 0 , and if Nb = 0, then µb < 0 .
The atoms obey Fermi-Dirac distribution which, at zero temperature, demands that
√
all the states with p < pf are occupied, where 2mµf = pf . Thus the total number of
fermions is given by
Z pf 2
p dp p3f
Nf = 2V = V , µf > 0,
0 2π 2 h̄3 3π 2 h̄3
where the factor of 2 accounts for spin. On the other hand, the following is obvious

Nf = 0, µf < 0.

Combining all this together, and using µf = µb /2, we write down the particle number
equation
3
p3f (mµb ) 2
N = Nf + 2Nb = V 2 3 θ(µb ) + 2Nb = V θ(µb ) + 2Nb , (4.2)
3π h̄ 3π 2 h̄3
combined with the Bose-Einstein condensation condition

Nb ≥ 0, µb = 0 ; Nb = 0, µb < 0 .

In (4.2), θ(x) = 1 if x > 0. If x ≤ 0, then θ(x) = 0. This allows us to find the number of
bosons in the following three regimes.

6
 1. If !2
1 3π 2 h̄3 N 3

0 < 0 < ,
m V
we find  
3
1 (m0 ) 2 
Nb = N − V .
2 3π 2 h̄3
Indeed, in this case, Nb > 0, so 0 = µb .
2. If !2
1 3π 2 h̄3 N 3

0 > ,
m V
then µb < 0 , which gives
Nb = 0.
Indeed, if µb were to be equal to 0 , then the application of (4.2) would immediately give
Nb < 0, which does not make sense. Thus we conclude that there are no bosons at all.
All the particles are fermions, which occupy all the states up to the energy µf = µ2b =
 2
1 3π 2 h̄3 N 3
2m V
.
3. Finally, if 0 < 0, then
Nb = N/2.
Here µb = 0 = 2µf . All particles are Bose-condensed bosons. There are no fermions.
(c) Turning our attention to nonzero temperature, we find the following generalization of
the particle number equation (4.2)
d3 p Z
1 Z
d3 p 1
2V3 p2 µb
+ 2V 3 p2 +0
+ N0 = N.
(2πh̄) e 2mT − 2T + 1 (2πh̄) e 4mT − µTb − 1
Here N0 is the number of Bose-Condensed bosons, and it is only nonzero if µb = 0 . The
condition for the onset of Bose-Einstein condensation is N0 = 0 while 0 = µb . This gives
d3 p Z
1 Z
d3 p 1
2V 2 
+ 2V 2 = N. (4.3)
(2πh̄)3 e 2mTc − 2T0c + 1
p
(2πh̄)3 e 4mTc − 1
p

This equation must be solved for Tc .

While this is generally hard to do analytically, it is easy to observe that if
!2
1 3π 2 h̄3 N 3

0  − ,
m V
the Fermi-Dirac factor in (4.3) can be completely neglected (there are almost no fermionic
atoms left). This reduces (4.2) to the usual Bose-Einstein condensation condition
 2
3
π  N
Tc =   .
m 2V ζ 3
2

7
As 0 is increased, Tc decreases and finally reaches zero when
!2
1 3π 2 h̄3 N 3

0 = .
m V

At 0 above this value, there are no Bose-Einstein condensate of molecules at any temper-
ature.