PHYSICS 112

Final Exam, 2011, solutions

1. [15 points]
(a) The partition is given by
Z = g1 + g2 e−β∆ ,
(note the degeneracy factors).
(b) The free energy is given by F = −kB T log Z, i.e.

F = −kB T log(g1 + g2 e−β∆ ) .

The energy is related to F by U = (∂/∂β)(βF ) = −(∂/∂β) log Z, so

∂ ∆g2 e−β∆
U =− log(g1 + g2 e−β∆ ) = .
∂β g1 + g2 e−β∆

The specific heat is given by

∂U
C =
∂T " #
∆2 g2 e−β∆ g22 e−2β∆
= −
kB T 2 g1 + g2 e−β∆ (g1 + g2 e−β∆ )2

∆2 g1 g2 e−β∆
= . (1)
kB T 2 (g1 + g2 e−β∆ )2

2. [15 points]
We are given that
En = nǫ + U n(n − 1) ,
(a) According to the Gibbs distribution we have
∞
X
n exp [β {n(µ − ǫ) − U n(n − 1)}]
n=0
hni = ∞ .
X
exp [β {n(µ − ǫ) − U n(n − 1)}]
n=0

(b) For U = 0 the denominator is a geometric series which sums to 1/(1 − exp(x)) where x =
β(µ − ǫ). The numerator is the derivative of this with respect to x, i.e. exp(x)/(1 − exp(x))2 .
Hence
exp(x) 1
hni = = ,
1 − exp(x) exp[β(ǫ − µ)] − 1
the Bose-Einstein distribution.
(c) For U → ∞ only the n = 0 and n = 1 terms contribute so we have

exp [β(µ − ǫ)] 1

hni = = ,
1 + exp [β(µ − ǫ)] exp[β(ǫ − µ)] + 1

which is the same as the Fermi-Dirac distribution.

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3. [25 points]
We are given that the density of states is
 3/2
2S + 1 2m
ρ(ǫ) = V ǫ1/2 .
4π 2 h̄2
(a) The Fermi energy ǫF is determined from
ǫF  3/2 Z ǫF  3/2
2S + 1 2m 2S + 1 2m
Z
1/2 3/2
N= ρ(ǫ) dǫ = V ǫ dǫ = V ǫF ,
0 4π 2 h̄2 0 6π 2 h̄2
which gives
2/3
h̄2 6π 2 n
 
ǫF = ,
2m 2S + 1
where n = N/V is the particle density.
(b) The energy at T = 0 is given by
ǫF
2S + 1 2m 3/2 ǫF 3/2 2S + 1 2m 3/2 5/2
Z   Z  
U = ǫρ(ǫ) dǫ = V ǫ dǫ = V ǫF ,
0 4π 2 h̄2 0 10π 2 h̄2
5/3 2/3  2  5/3
2S + 1 h̄2 6π 2 n 6π 2
  
3 h̄ N
= V 2
= .
10π 2m 2S + 1 10 2S + 1 m V 2/3

(c) The pressure at T = 0 is given by

2/3  5/3 2/3  5/3
6π 2 h̄2 6π 2 h̄2
   
2 3 N 1 N
P = −(∂U/∂V )N,T = = .
3 10 2S + 1 m V 5 2S + 1 m V

(d) The pressures are equal in equilibrium, so

5/3 5/3
n1 n2
= 2/3 (2)
22/3 4
where n1 is the density of particles in compartment 1 which has spin-1/2 particles, and n2
is the density of particles in compartment 2 which has spin-3/2 particles. Taking the third
power of Eq. (2) gives
 5  2
n1 1
= ,
n2 2
or
 2/5
n1 1
= = 0.758 · · · .
n2 2
(Since calculators are not allowed you are not required to give the numerical value.)
Note: As stated in the question the result that the densities are different is a quantum effect.

4. [20 points]
The law of mass action, given at the beginning of the exam, states that

nA 2
 
nB
= ,
nQA ZB nQB

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 where ZB = eβ∆E is the partition function of the molecule B including just its lowest state which
has energy −∆E. From the expression given for nQj in the exam, we see that nQA and nQB differ
only because B has twice the mass of A. Hence nQB = 23/2 nQA . We therefore have

n2A e−β∆E
= nB 3/2 .
nQA 2

Hence, the condition that nA = nB is

nA 1
= 3/2 e−β∆E .
nQA 2

5. [25 points]
The energy levels of a single spin are shown in the figure.

∆ +B
S = −1
S=1

∆ −B

S=0
0

(a) The average value of S is

eβ(−∆+B) + 0 − eβ(−∆−B) 2e−β∆ sinh βB

m ≡ hSi i = = . (3)
eβ(−∆+B) + 1 + eβ(−∆−B 1 + 2e−β∆ cosh βB

(b) Different spins interact through an additional energy

X
−J Si Sj .
hi,ji
P
The terms involving spin i are −Si J j Sj , and taking the average value of the spins on the
neighboring sites j gives −B M F Si where

B M F = zJm , (4)

where z is the number of neighbors.

(c) Substituting B = B M F from Eq. (4) into the equation for m in Eq. (3) gives

2e−β∆ sinh βzJm

m= .
1 + 2e−β∆ cosh βzJm

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(d) Assuming that the transition is continuous (second order) one can locate βc ≡ 1/kB Tc by
looking for a solution with m non-zero but infinitesimally small. Expanding the RHS of the
last equation and just including the first order term, and setting β = βc , gives

2βc zJ e−βc ∆
m= m,
1 + 2e−βc ∆
which is satisfied when the coefficient of m on the RHS is unity, i.e.

2e−∆/kB Tc
kB Tc = zJ .
1 + 2e−∆/kB Tc

(e) For the limit ∆ → 0 the exponential factors tend to unity so

2
kB Tc = zJ .
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