The Bose-Einstein Statistics

The thermodynamic probablity Wk of macrostate k is the

number of microstates that correspond to macrostate k:

Wk  
N j  g j  1!
j N j ! g j  1!

The Bose-Einstein distribution is

gj gj
Nj  
  j     j / kT
e 1 e e 1
A particle which has an integral value of angular momentum (in units of
h/2π) will not obey the Pauli exclusion principle. This type of particles (e.g.
a photon, an alpha particle) is known as boson. There is no restriction on
the number of such particles may occupy a given energy state.

1. The Bose-Einstein Gas

The distribution of 4He gas molecules over the various energy levels is:
gj gj gj
Nj  
   j   1  e  e j kT
  j kT
1 1
1
e A
e

The states to occupy a volume d of phase space will be:

d
g
h3
For 4He gas that is free from the external force field, the number of
available energy states in the energy range  to +d is given by:
 2 2m3 2 1 2 d  .V
g  d 
h3

p2
where:  and V   dxdydz
2m
V
the number of available energy states in the energy range  to +d is
given by:
1 2 2m 1 2 d  .V
32
N  d  
h3 e kT  1
1
A

The value of parameter A is determined from the condition that


 N  d   N
0
This integral is difficult to evaluate exactly, but in most practical cases the
value of A is sufficiently small to allow the term unity in the denominatotr
to be ignored. When this condition is satisfied, the distribution will
approximate to the M-B distribution.

N h3 1 2 u

1
A  e du 
u
V 2mkT  32
0
2

 kT
e 1 1  kT
e  1
A  1 A
For 4He gas that is confined in a volume V and at the pressure of 1 atm,
the values of parameter A depend on the values of temperature T:

at T  300 K, A  3x106 Thus, even at 4K, the condition

at T  4 K, A  0.15 1  kT
e  1 is fairly well satisfied.
A
No Particle Rest energy Charge spin
(MeV)

1  0 0 1

2 e- 0.511 -1 1/2

3 p 938.3 +1 1/2

4 n 939.6 0 1/2
2. Black-body radiation: the photon gas

The electromagnetic radiation which is present inside any constant

temperature enclosure is considered as an assembly of photons of
various energies (a photon gas).
Because photons may be absorbed and reemitted by the walls of the
enclosure, the number of photons inside the enclosure is not fixed.

d ln W   dN   dU  0

Since dN  0 thus  = 0 and A  e 1
c
Energy of a photon is  h  h

In photon gas, there are two independent directions of polarization of
electromagnetic wave, the number of allowed modes is therefore doubled.
The number of allowed states or modes in the range  to +d is
4
g   d  2V d
 4

The number of allowed states or modes in the range  to +d per unit volume is
8
 
g  d  4 d

g   is the density of states in terms of the wavelength

The number of foton in the range  to +d at temperature T per unit volume is

g   d 8 d
N   d  hc kT

e 1 4 e hc kT  1
The energy of radiation in the range  to +d at temperature T per unit volume is

E  d  N  d
 8hc d
E   d 
5 e hc kT  1
This spectral distribution of the energy of radiation inside a constant
temperature enclosure is known as the Planck radiation law.

The spectral distribution of radiant energy.

a. At long wavelength e hc kT  1  hc kT
8  k T d
E   d 
4
This is in agreement with the classical Rayleigh-Jeans formula,
derived on the assumption that each photon has the classical
oscillator harmonic energy kT from the total photons of 8 d
4

However, Rayleigh-Jeans formula predicts an infinite value for the

enrgy when  0
hc kT
b. At short wavelength e  1
8hc
E   d  e hc kT d
5
This is in agreement with the Wien distribution formula that was
originally proposed as an empirical fit for the experimental results at
short wavelength.
c. Ifa small hole is made in the side of enclosure, some of
electromagnetic energy will radiated out from the enclosure.
From the kinetic theory, the number of molecules impinging
on a unit area in unit time is:
1 N
v
4V
The hole acts as a black body radiator. The number of
photons emitted in the wavelength range  to +d per unit
area of the hole per unit time is:

N rad  d  N  d

c
4
The energy radiated per unit area of the hole per unit time in
the wavelength range  to +d is:
2  h c 2 d
E rad  d  N rad  d
hc

 
5 e hc kT  1 
d. Stefan’s law of radiation in the form of the energy radiated
per unit area per unit time from a body at temperature T is:
 
2  h c 2 d
E rad   E rad  d    T 4
0 
5 e hc kT  1
0 
2 5 k 4 nW
E rad   T 4  3 2
 56.3 2 4
15h c m K
e. The total energy per unit volume of the constant
temperature enclosure is:
8hc d
E   d 
5 e hc kT  1

8 5 k 4 4
E   E   d  T 
x3 4
3 3
15h c  dx 
0
0 e 1
x 15
 e. Wien’s law m T  2.90 x10 m K
3

8hc d
E   d 
5 e hc kT  1
E is maximum when
5 e hc kT  1 is minimum

d
 e 
d 5 hc kT
1  0 

x
1  ex 
5
hc
x  4.96
m kT