There is a simple argument, practically by inspection, that distributions(9-31),(9-32), and(9-33)should agree whenever occupation number is much less than 1. Provide the argument.

Short Answer

Expert verified

N(E)1BeE/kBT,ForN(E)<<1

Step by step solution

01

Concept used

The Boltzmann distribution is:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT

The Bose-Einstein statistics:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT-1

The Fermi-Dirac statistics:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT+1.

02

Use Boltzmann distribution, the Bose-Einstein statistics, the Fermi-Dirac statistics

Let us first list down the occupation numbers Nassociated with a specific type of particle. For classical distinguishable particles, the Boltzmann distribution writes:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT ……. (1)

For bosons, the Bose-Einstein statistics gives:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT-1 ……. (2)

For fermions, the Fermi-Dirac statistics gives:

N(E)=1BeE/kBT+1. ……. (3)

Here B is a normalization coefficient, E is the energy,kBis Boltzmann's constant, and T is the temperature.

Now in order for the occupation numbers to be much less than one: N(E)<<1, the term BeE/kBTmust be very large. Ideally ifBeE/kBT , then it must be true thatN(E)0 . In such a scenario, the terms -1and+1 in eqns. (2) and (3) become irrelevant, and all coincide to the Boltzmann distribution:

N(E)1BeE/kBT,ForN(E)<<1

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Most popular questions from this chapter

We claim that the famous exponential decrease of probability with energy is natural, the vastly most probable and disordered state given the constraints on total energy and number of particles. It should be a state of maximum entropy ! The proof involves mathematical techniques beyond the scope of the text, but finding support is good exercise and not difficult. Consider a system of11oscillators sharing a total energy of just50 . In the symbols of Section 9.3. N=11andM=5 .

  1. Using equation(9-9) , calculate the probabilities ofn , being0,1,2, and3 .
  2. How many particlesNn , would be expected in each level? Round each to the nearest integer. (Happily. the number is still 11. and the energy still50 .) What you have is a distribution of the energy that is as close to expectations is possible. given that numbers at each level in a real case are integers.
  3. Entropy is related to the number of microscopic ways the macro state can be obtained. and the number of ways of permuting particle labels withN0 ,N1,N2 , and N3fixed and totaling11 is11!(N0!N1!N2!N3!) . (See Appendix J for the proof.) Calculate the number of ways for your distribution.
  4. Calculate the number of ways if there were6 particles inn=0.5 inn=1 and none higher. Note that this also has the same total energy.
  5. Find at least one other distribution in which the 11 oscillators share the same energy, and calculate the number of ways.
  6. What do your finding suggests?

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