12.6.

The Fermi Gas 521

decreases the third magic number from 40 to 28. The isolated 1g level is split into 5g9/2
which joins the lower shell and 5g9/2 which joins the upper shell. A similar event occurs
with the 6h level.
Because of the strong spin-orbit coupling, the j-j coupling model seems to be a good
approximation to account for the nuclear ground states. If a nucleus has an even number
of protons and an even number of neutrons, then the total J for each species of nucleons
is zero. If the mass number A is odd, then the total J must be the same as the j of the
nucleon at the highest energy level. The ordering of the more closely spaced levels above
may be changed by the pairing energy of two nucleons.

12.6 The Fermi Gas

The Fermi gas is a system containing a large number of identical fermions all moving in
a constant external potential. Such a system is a good model for a number of physical
systems. It serves as the Sommerfeld model for a simple metal in which the conduction
electrons are treated as the fermions in a constant potential provided by the uniform
background of the positive ions. In the nuclear binding, there is a term proportional to
the mass number A. Thus, the binding energy per nucleon can be studied as in the system
of a large number of nucleons in a constant potential, known as the nuclear matter. In
astrophysics, the electron gas is a model for the electrons in a white dwarf. A gas of
neutrons serves as a poor model for the neutron star because it is believed that the
neutrons there solidify.
We shall consider the simple case where the interaction between two fermions is
neglected. It is a necessary first step in treating the particle interaction in the next
chapter. The only consequence is then the Pauli exclusion principle. Consider a large
number N of fermions in a cube of side L. Since we are interested in the average properties
per fermion or per unit volume, surface effects will be neglected. Then, the boundary
conditions for the wave functions are unimportant. (See problems 13 and 14.) Instead
of the wave function vanishing at the boundaries of the cube, we impose the periodic
boundary conditions:

ψ(x, y, z) = ψ(x + L, y, z) = ψ(x, y + L, z) = ψ(x, y, z + L). (12.6.1)

522 Chapter 12. A System of Identical Particles

In a constant potential, the energy eigenfunction of each fermion is a product of three

plane waves:

ψk,σ (
r) = L−3/2 eik·r χσ , (12.6.2)

where χ± denotes the spin-up and down states, and
k is the wave vector giving the energy
h̄2 k 2
Ek = . (12.6.3)
2m
The boundary conditions give

eikx L = 1,

eiky L = 1,

eikz L = 1. (12.6.4)

They restrict the wave vectors to

2π
kx = nx ,
L
2π
ky = ny ,
L
2π
kz = nz , (12.6.5)
L
where (nx , ny , nz ) are a trio of integers.
The ground state of the system of N fermions is made up of a Slater determinant
of N lowest single fermion energy states which are occupied by the fermions. To keep
track of the occupied states, we plot each permissible
k as a point in a three-dimensional
space, which is known as the wave-vector space or the reciprocal space in contrast to
the real or position space of the particles. The highest occupied energy is known as the
Fermi energy, EF . The magnitude of the wave-vector at the Fermi energy is known as
the Fermi radius kF , related to the Fermi energy by
h̄2 kF2
EF = . (12.6.6)
2m
Thus, the occupied states are those with wave vectors inside the sphere of radius kF in
the reciprocal space. The spherical surface dividing the occupied and unoccupied states
is known as the Fermi surface.
12.6. The Fermi Gas 523

To study systematically the ground-state properties of the system, we introduce the

occupation function for state
k:

fk = 1 (12.6.7)

if the state is occupied, i.e. k ≤ kF or Ek ≤ EF ;

fk = 0 (12.6.8)

if the state is unoccupied, i.e. k > kF or Ek > EF .

The number of occupied states is twice the number of k points inside the Fermi surface
since there are two spin states for each wave vector. Thus,

 3   3
L L 4π 3 k3
N =2 fk = 2 d3 k fk = 2 kF = L3 F2 . (12.6.9)

n
2π 2π 3 3π

This formula is correct for large L and N . We have neglected the minor zigzags around
the Fermi surface of the occupied wave vectors. The density of fermions is

N kF3
n = 3 = 2. (12.6.10)
L 3π

In terms of the Fermi energy, the density is

 3/2
1 2m 3/2
n= EF . (12.6.11)
3π 2 h̄2

From the above formula, we see that the number of states per unit volume with energy
less than E is given by
 3/2
1 2m
n(E) = E 3/2 . (12.6.12)
3π 2 h̄2

The density of states which is defined as the number of states per unit energy range per
unit volume is
 3/2
dn(E) 1 2m
g(E) = = 2 E 1/2 , (12.6.13)
dE 2π h̄2

proportional to the square root of the energy E.

The ground-state energy of the system is given by


ET = 2 fk Ek . (12.6.14)

n
524 Chapter 12. A System of Identical Particles

To evaluate the sum, we may proceed to integrate as in the case of the total number of
fermions N or we may make use of the density of states,
 EF
3
ET = L3 dE g(E)E = N EF . (12.6.15)
0 5

The average energy per particle is 3/5 of the Fermi energy.

The corresponding properties at finite temperatures may be obtained by replacing
the occupation function by the Fermi distribution function.

12.6.1 White dwarf

A white dwarf is a cold star made up of roughly equal numbers of protons, neutrons and
electrons. The kinetic energy of the electrons is much large than that of the protons and
of the neutrons. The star is prevented from the collapse due to gravitational attraction
by the pressure generated from the electron kinetic energy. Assume that the electron
density in a white dwarf of radius R is constant, we wish to deduce the equilibrium
radius of the star of mass M .
The potential energy of the spherical star due to gravitational attraction is

3 GM 2
V =− . (12.6.16)
5 R

The number of protons and neutrons and electrons are

Np = N n = N e . (12.6.17)

The mass of the star is thus

M = Ne (mp + mn + me ) 2Ne mp . (12.6.18)

The electron density is

3Ne 3M
n= 3
= , (12.6.19)
4πR 8πmp R3

and the Fermi energy is

2/3
h̄2 h̄2 9πM
EF = (3π 2 n)2/3 = . (12.6.20)
2me 2me 8R3 mp
12.7. Scattering between two identical particles 525

The total kinetic energy of the electron gas is then

3 3(9π)2/3 h̄2 M 5/3

K = Ne EF = 5/3
. (12.6.21)
5 80me mp R2
If we approximate the total energy of the star by the sum of the electron kinetic
energy and the gravitational energy and minimize it with respect to R, we obtain the
equilibrium radius

(9π)2/3 h̄2
R= 5/3
. (12.6.22)
8Gme mp M 1/3
Note that the radius of the white dwarf is inversely proportional to the cube root of its
mass.

12.7 Scattering between two identical particles

The question is how the identity of two particles changes the scattering probability in
a collision experiment. By classical reasoning, we would expect the differential cross
section for the spherical potential scattering to be

dσ
= |f (θ)|2 + |f (π − θ)|2 , (12.7.1)
dΩ

where f (θ) is the scattering amplitude at the deflection through an angle θ. Figure 12.2
shows how the indistinguishability of the two particles adds an additional term. Not
surprisingly, the permutations symmetry of the wave functions of the two particles leads
to an interference term due to the overlap on close approach. In the following, we give
a simple treatment to illustrate the differences to the classical result for bosons and
fermions. For a more in-depth treatment, consult Reference [10].

12.7.1 Scattering between two particles without spin

Consider first two particles without spin. An example is the alpha particle (the 4 He ion
made up of 2 protons and 2 neutrons). In the scattering of two identical particles moving
towards each other, the center of mass is at rest. The laboratory frame of reference is

the center of mass frame. If the incoming particle 1 wave function is given by eik·r1 , the

second particle coming in the opposite direction is e−ik·r2 . The incoming symmetrized