For a system of fermions at room temperature, compute the probability of a single-particle state being occupied if its energy is

(a) 1eVless than μ

(b) 0.01eVless than μ

(c) equal to μ

(d) 0.01eVgreater than μ

(e) 1eVgreater thanμ

Short Answer

Expert verified

According to the Fermi-Dirac distribution, the probability of a state being occupied is given below:

nFD=1e(ε-μ)kT+1

Here, nFDis the Fermi-Dirac distribution, εis the energy, μis the chemical potential, kis the Boltzmann constant, and Tis the absolute temperature.

Formula to energy for the occupied state is given below:

ε-μ=x

Here xis the energy of the state.

Step by step solution

01

(a) Calculate the energy for the occupied state 1 eV less than than μ as follows:

ε-μ=x

Substitute -1eVfor xin the equation ε-μ=x.

ε=μ-1eVε-μ=-1eV

The room temperature in kelvins is,

T=27oC=(27+273)K=300K

Calculate the probability of a state being occupied state 1eVless than μas follows:

nFD=1e(ε-μ)kT+1

Substitute -1eVfor (ε-μ),8.617×10-5eV/Kfor k, and 300Kfor Tin the above equation.

nFD=1e-1eV(8.617×10-3eV/K)(300K)+1=0.9999nFD1.0

Therefore, the probability of a state being occupied state1eVless thanμisnFD1.0

02

(b) Calculate the energy for the occupied state 0.01 eV less than μ as follows:

ε-μ=x

Substitute -0.01eVfor xin the equation ε-μ=x.

ε=μ-0.01eVε-μ=-0.01eV

The room temperature in kelvins is,

T=27oC=(27+273)K=300K

Calculate the probability of a state being occupied state 0.01eVless than μas follows:

nFD=1e(ε-μ)kT+1

Substitute -0.01eVfor ε-μ, 8.617×10-5eV/Kfor k, and 300Kfor Tin the above equation.

nFD=1e-0.01eV(8.617×10-5eV/K)(300K)+1nFD==0.5955

Therefore, the probability of a state being occupied state0.01eVless thanμisnFD=0.5955

03

(c) Calculate the energy for the occupied state energy is equal to μ as follows:

ε-μ=x

Substitute 0eVfor xin the equation ε-μ=x.

ε=μ-0

The room temperature in kelvins is,

T=27oC=(27+273)K=300K

Calculate the probability of a state being occupied state equal to μas follows:

nFD=1eε-μkT+1

Substitute 0eVfor ε-μ,8.617×10-5eV/Kfor k, and 300Kfor Tin the above equation.

role="math" localid="1647055630164" nFD=1e0eV(8.617×10-5eV/K)(300K)+1nFD=0.5

Therefore, the probability of a state being occupied state equal toμisnFD=0.5

04

(d) Calculate the energy for the occupied state 0.01 eV greater than μ as follows:

ε-μ=x

Substitute 0.01eVfor xin the equation role="math" localid="1647056653513" ε-μ=x

role="math" localid="1647056689711" ε=μ+0.01eVε-μ=0.01eV

The room temperature in kelvins is,

role="math" localid="1647056731594" T=27oC=(27+273)K=300K

Calculate the probability of a state being occupied state 0.01eVless than μas follows:

role="math" nFD=1eε-μkT+1

Substitute 0.01eVfor role="math" localid="1647056852727" ε-μ,8.617×10-5eV/Kfor k, and 300Kfor Tin the above equation.

role="math" localid="1647056921933" nFD=1e0.01eV(8.617×10-5eV/K)(300K)+1nFD=0.4045

Therefore, the probability of a state being occupied state0.01eVgreater thanμisnFD=0.4045

05

(e) Calculate the energy for the occupied state 1 eV greater than μ as follows:

ε-μ=x

Substitute 1eVfor xin the equationε-μ=x

ε=μ+1eVε-μ=1eV

The room temperature in kelvins is,

T=27oC=(27+273)K=300K

Calculate the probability of a state being occupied state role="math" localid="1647056827269" 1eVless than μas follows:

nFD=1eε-μkT+1

Substitute 1eVfor ε-μ,8.617×10-5eV/Kfor k, and 300Kfor Tin the above equation.

role="math" localid="1647057000902" nFD=1e1eV(8.617×10-5eV/K)(300K)+1nFD=1.5852×10-17

Therefore, the probability of a state being occupied state 1eVgreater than μis nFD=1.5852×10-17

Unlock Step-by-Step Solutions & Ace Your Exams!

  • Full Textbook Solutions

    Get detailed explanations and key concepts

  • Unlimited Al creation

    Al flashcards, explanations, exams and more...

  • Ads-free access

    To over 500 millions flashcards

  • Money-back guarantee

    We refund you if you fail your exam.

Over 30 million students worldwide already upgrade their learning with Vaia!

One App. One Place for Learning.

All the tools & learning materials you need for study success - in one app.

Get started for free

Most popular questions from this chapter

Repeat the previous problem, taking into account the two independent spin states of the electron. Now the system has two "occupied" states, one with the electron in each spin configuration. However, the chemical potential of the electron gas is also slightly different. Show that the ratio of probabilities is the same as before: The spin degeneracy cancels out of the saha equation.

Consider the electromagnetic radiation inside a kiln, with a volume of V= I m3 and a temperature of 1500 K.

(a) What is the total energy of this radiation?

(b) Sketch the spectrum of the radiation as a function of photon energy.

(c) What fraction of all the energy is in the visible portion of the spectrum, with wavelengths between 400 nm and 700 nm?

Consider a Bose gas confined in an isotropic harmonic trap, as in the previous problem. For this system, because the energy level structure is much simpler than that of a three-dimensional box, it is feasible to carry out the sum in equation 7.121 numerically, without approximating it as an integral.*

(a) Write equation 7.121 for this system as a sum over energy levels, taking degeneracy into account. Replace Tandμwith the dimensionless variables t=kT/hfandc=μ/hf.

(b) Program a computer to calculate this sum for any given values of tandc. Show that, for N=2000, equation 7.121 is satisfied at t=15provided that c=-10.534. (Hint: You'll need to include approximately the first 200 energy levels in the sum.)

(c) For the same parameters as in part (b), plot the number of particles in each energy level as a function of energy.

(d) Now reduce tto 14 , and adjust the value of cuntil the sum again equals 2000. Plot the number of particles as a function of energy.

(e) Repeat part (d) for t=13,12,11,and10. You should find that the required value of cincreases toward zero but never quite reaches it. Discuss the results in some detail.


Fill in the steps to derive equations 7.112and7.117.

A ferromagnet is a material (like iron) that magnetizes spontaneously, even in the absence of an externally applied magnetic field. This happens because each elementary dipole has a strong tendency to align parallel to its neighbors. At t=0the magnetization of a ferromagnet has the maximum possible value, with all dipoles perfectly lined up; if there are Natoms, the total magnetization is typically~2μeN, where µa is the Bohr magneton. At somewhat higher temperatures, the excitations take the form of spin waves, which can be visualized classically as shown in Figure 7.30. Like sound waves, spin waves are quantized: Each wave mode can have only integer multiples of a basic energy unit. In analogy with phonons, we think of the energy units as particles, called magnons. Each magnon reduces the total spin of the system by one unit of h21rand therefore reduces the magnetization by ~2μe. However, whereas the frequency of a sound wave is inversely proportional to its wavelength, the frequency of a spin-wave is proportional to the square of 1λ.. (in the limit of long wavelengths). Therefore, since=hfand p=hλ.. for any "particle," the energy of a magnon is proportional

In the ground state of a ferromagnet, all the elementary dipoles point in the same direction. The lowest-energy excitations above the ground state are spin waves, in which the dipoles precess in a conical motion. A long-wavelength spin wave carries very little energy because the difference in direction between neighboring dipoles is very small.

to the square of its momentum. In analogy with the energy-momentum relation for an ordinary nonrelativistic particle, we can write =p22pm*, wherem* is a constant related to the spin-spin interaction energy and the atomic spacing. For iron, m* turns out to equal 1.24×1029kg, about14times the mass of an electron. Another difference between magnons and phonons is that each magnon ( or spin-wave mode) has only one possible polarization.

(a) Show that at low temperatures, the number of magnons per unit volume in a three-dimensional ferromagnet is given by

NmV=2π2m×kTh2320xex-1dx.

Evaluate the integral numerically.

(b) Use the result of part (a) to find an expression for the fractional reduction in magnetization, (M(O)-M(T))/M(O).Write your answer in the form (T/To)32, and estimate the constantT0for iron.

(c) Calculate the heat capacity due to magnetic excitations in a ferromagnet at low temperature. You should find Cv/Nk=(T/Ti)32, where Tidiffers from To only by a numerical constant. EstimateTifor iron, and compare the magnon and phonon contributions to the heat capacity. (The Debye temperature of iron is 470k.)

(d) Consider a two-dimensional array of magnetic dipoles at low temperature. Assume that each elementary dipole can still point in any (threedimensional) direction, so spin waves are still possible. Show that the integral for the total number of magnons diverge in this case. (This result is an indication that there can be no spontaneous magnetization in such a two-dimensional system. However, in Section 8.2we will consider a different two-dimensional model in which magnetization does occur.)

See all solutions

Recommended explanations on Physics Textbooks

View all explanations

What do you think about this solution?

We value your feedback to improve our textbook solutions.

Study anywhere. Anytime. Across all devices.

Sign-up for free