Physics 333, Thermal and Statistical Physics: Homework #3

due Friday Feb. 23, 2018

1. (a) Schroeder problem 7.3.

(b) Schroeder problem 7.4. (It is a small modification to go from 7.3 to 7.4).

2. Consider a system with equally spaced energy levels n = n1 , that can be filled
with fermions or bosons. Consider only a single spin state. Take the average number of
particles in the system be N , and the temperature = T .
(a) Suppose that the Gibbs factor is always much smaller than 1, for some reason.
Find the chemical potential µ in this approximation, as a function of N and T . In this
limit, µ is the same for fermions and bosons. Hint: find N as a function of µ and invert
the relationship.
(b) Using your result from (a), prove that the starting assumption is consistent if the
temperature is sufficiently high. How high must it be (in terms of N and 1 )?
(c) In the same approximation, find the leading correction to N that distinguishes
between fermions and bosons, and show how µ gets corrected. For given N and T , is
µ larger for fermions or for bosons? Hint: if µ = µ0 + f (µ) and f  µ0 , argue that
µ∼= µ0 + f (µ0 ).
(d) Find µ versus N in the low-temperature limit, for bosons and fermions.

3. A neutron star can be thought of as a degenerate gas of neutrons, which we will

model as a spherical ball of radius R, total mass M , and uniform density, with a negligible
temperature.
(a) The gravitational potential energy of such a ball is Ug = −(3/5)GM 2 /R. Use
dimensional analysis to derive the dimensionful factors, and explain why it is negative.
(b) Find the total kinetic energy of the gas, Uk as a function of R.
(c) Find the value of R that minimizes the total energy, and sketch its behavior as a
function of M .
(d) Find the radius when M = 2 × 1030 kg, the mass of the sun. What is the density,
and how does it compare to that of water?
(e) Calculate the Fermi energy and temperature. How small must the actual temper-
ature be to justify our approximation that T ∼ = 0?

4. Find the density of states for relativistic particles in a box of volume V .

5. Find the entropy of a degenerate Fermi gas, at low temperatures. (Hint: the
textbook shows how to do it for a gas of photons. You don’t need to derive intermediate
formulas, just find them.) Suppose the temperature is 10−5 Tf and the gas contains a mole
of electrons. How big is S/k?