List to turn in

1. [Huang] 7.6 – Imperfect Gas. Consider a system of N molecules (N →

∞) contained in a box of volume V (V → ∞). The Hamiltonian of the
system is
N
X p2i X
H = + vij
i=1
2m i<j
vij = v (|ri − rj |)
where pi and ri are, respectively, the momentum and the position of the
i th molecule. The intermolecular potential v(r) has the qualitative form
shown in the accompanying figure. Let

fij = f (|ri − rj |)
f (r) ≡ e−βv(r) − 1

A sketch of f (r) is also shown in the same figure.

(a) Show that the equation of state of the system is

Pv ∂Z(v, T )
=1+v
kT ∂v
where v = V /N and
 
Z
1  1 Y
Z(v, T ) ≡ ln d3 r1 · · · d3 rN (1 + fij )
N VN i<j

(b) By expanding the product Π (1 + fij ), show that

  
Z
1  1 X
Z(v, T ) = ln d3 r1 · · · d3 rN 1 + fij + · · · 
N VN i<j
 Z 1/N
N 3
= ln 1 + d rf (r) + · · ·
2V

(c) Show that at low densities, i.e.,

r03 /v  1

1
 it is a good approximation to retain only the first two terms in the se-
ries appearing in the expression Z(v, T ). Hence the equation of state is
approximately given by
Z ∞
Pv 1
≈1− dr 4πr2 f (r)
kT 2v 0

The coefficient of 1/v is called the second virial coefficient.

Note. (i) Retaining the first two terms in the series appearing in Z(v, T )
is a good approximation because Z(v, T ) is the logarithm of the N th root
of the series. The approximation is certainly invalid for the series itself
(ii) If all terms in the expansion of Π (1 + fij ) were kept, we would have
obtained a systematic expansion of P v/kT in powers of 1/v. Such an
expansion is known as the virial expansion.
(iii) The complete virial expansion is difficult to obtain by the method
described in this problem. It is obtained in Chapter 10 via the grand
canonical ensemble. See (10.27) and (10.30).
2. [Huang] 11.4 – (a) What is the heat capacity CV of a three-dimensional
cubic lattice of atoms at room temperature? Assume each atom to be
bound to its equilibrium position by Hooke’s law forces.
(b) Assuming that a metal can be represented by such a lattice of atoms
plus freely moving electrons, compare the specific heat due to the electrons
with that due to the lattice, at room temperature.
(Kittel’s book “Introduction to Solid State Physics” also has a nice section about
the heat capacity of the electron gas, besides Pathria and Huang.)
3. [Huang] 12.6 – (a) Calculate the grand partition function Z(z, V, T ) for a
two-dimensional ideal Bose gas and obtain the limit
1
lim ln Z(z, V, T ),
V →∞ V
where V = L2 is the area available to the system.
(b) Find the average number of particles per unit area as a function of z
and T .
(c) Show that there is no Bose-Einstein condensation for a two-dimensional
ideal Bose gas.