467

Appendix: Physical Constants and

Mathematical Relations
c 2010 by Harvey Gould and Jan Tobochnik
5 February 2010
A.1 Physical Constants and Conversion Factors
constant symbol magnitude
Avogadros number N
A
6.022 10
23
Boltzmanns constant k 1.381 10
23
J/K
universal gas constant R 8.314 J/(mol K)
Plancks constant h 6.626 10
34
J s
1.055 10
34
J s
speed of light c 2.998 10
8
m/s
electron charge e 1.602 10
19
C
electron mass m
e
9.109 10
31
kg
proton mass m
p
1.672 10
27
kg
Table A.1: Useful physical constants.
newton 1 N 1 kg m/s
2
joule 1 J 1 Nm
watt 1 W 1 J/s
pascal 1 Pa 1 N/m
2
Table A.2: SI derived units. For information about SI units see <physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/>.
1 atm = 1.013 bar
= 1.013 10
5
Pa
= 760 mmHg
1 cal = 4.186 J
1 eV = 1.602 10
19
J
Table A.3: Conversion factors.
468
A.2 Hyperbolic Functions
coshx =
1
2
[e
x
+ e
x
]. (A.1)
sinhx =
1
2
[e
x
e
x
]. (A.2)
tanhx =
sinh x
coshx
=
e
x
e
x
e
x
+ e
x
. (A.3)
A.3 Approximations
f(x) = f(a) + (x a)f

(a) +
1
2!
(x a)
2
f

(a) +
1
3!
(x a)
3
f

(a) + . (A.4)
e
x
=

n=0
x
n
n!
1 + x +
x
2
2!
+ . (A.5)
sin x =

n=0
(1)
n
x
2n+1
(2n + 1)!
x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!
+ . (A.6)
cos x =

n=0
(1)
n
x
2n
(2n)!
1
x
2
2!
+
x
4
4!
+ . (A.7)
(a + x)
p
= a
p
_
1 +
x
a
_
p
= a
p

n=0
_
p
n
_
_
x
a
_
n
(A.8)
a
p
_
1 + p
_
x
a
_
+
p(p 1)
2!
_
x
a
_
2
+
_
. (A.9)
1
1 x
=

n=1
x
n1
1 + x + x
2
+ . (A.10)
ln(1 + x) =

n=1
(1)
n+1
x
n
n
x
x
2
2
+
1
3
x
3
+ . (A.11)
tanh x =

n=1
2
2n
(2
2n
1)
(2n)!
B
2n
x
2n1
x
x
3
3
+
2x
5
15
+ , (A.12)
where B
n
are the Bernoulli numbers (see Section A.7).
A.4 Euler-Maclaurin Formula

i=0
f(i) =
_

0
f(x) dx +
1
2
f(0)
1
12
f

(0) +
1
720
f

(0) + . (A.13)
469
A.5 Gaussian Integrals
I
n

_

x
n
e
ax
2
dx (n 0, a > 0). (A.14)
I
0
=
_

a
_
1/2
. (A.15)
I
1
= 0. (A.16)
I
2
=
1
2
_

a
3
_
1/2
. (A.17)
Derivation:
I
0
=
_
+

e
ax
2
dx. (A.18)
Because x in the integrand of (A.18) is a dummy variable, we may equally well write I
0
as
I
0
=
_
+

e
ay
2
dy. (A.19)
To convert the integrand to a form we can integrate, we multiply I
0
by itself and write
I
2
0
=
_
+

e
ax
2
dx
_
+

e
ay
2
dy =
_
+

_
+

e
a(x
2
+y
2
)
dxdy. (A.20)
The double integral in (A.20) extends over the entire x-y plane. We introduce the polar coordinates
r and , where r
2
= x
2
+y
2
. The element of area in polar coordinates is rdr d. Hence, I
2
0
can be
rewritten in the form
I
2
0
=
_
2
0
_

0
e
ar
2
rdr d = 2
_

0
e
ar
2
rdr. (A.21)
We let z = ar
2
, dz = 2ardr, and write
I
2
0
=

a
_

0
e
z
dz =

a
_
e
z
_

0
=

a
. (A.22)
Hence, we obtain the desired result
I
0
=
_
+

e
ax
2
dx =
_

a
_
1/2
. (A.23)
The values of I
n
for n odd in (A.15) are zero by symmetry. For odd values of n, we dene

I
n
as

I
n
=
_

0
x
n
e
ax
2
dx (n odd). (A.24)
It is straightforward to show that

I
1
=
1
2a
. (A.25)
The integrals I
n
and

I
n
for n > 1 can be found from the integrals I
0
or

I
1
using the recursion
relation
I
n
=
I
n2
a
. (A.26)
470
A.6 Stirlings Approximation
We rst use the denition of N! as
N! = 1 2 3 N (A.27)
to obtain the weaker form of Stirlings approximation
ln N! = ln 1 + ln 2 + ln 3 + + ln N (A.28a)

_
N
1
ln xdx =
_
xln x x
_
N
1
(A.28b)
= N ln N N + 1. (A.28c)
For N 1 we have ln N! N ln N N.
A more accurate approximation for N! can be found from the integral representation [see
(A.36)]:
N! =
_

0
x
N
e
x
dx. (A.29)
In the integrand, x
N
is a rapidly increasing function of x for large N, and e
x
is a decreasing
function of x. Hence f(x) = x
N
e
x
exhibits a sharp maximum for some value of x. As usual, it is
easier to consider ln f(x) and nd where it has its maximum:
d ln f(x)
dx
=
d
dx
(N ln x x) =
N
x
1. (A.30)
We next do a Taylor expansion of lnf(x) about its maximum at x = N. We write x = N +z, and
expand in powers of z:
N ln(N + z) (N + z) = N ln N + N ln
_
1 +
z
N
_
N z (A.31a)
N ln N + N
_
z
N

1
2
z
2
N
2
_
N z (A.31b)
= N ln N N
z
2
2N
. (A.31c)
Hence,
f N
N
e
N
e
Nz
2
/2
, (A.32)
and thus
N! =
_

0
f(x) dx N
N
e
N
_

N
e
Nz
2
/2
dz. (A.33)
Because the integrand is sharply peaked about z = 0, we can extend the lower limit of integration
to . Hence, we obtain
N! N
N
e
N
_

e
Nz
2
/2
dz = N
N
e
N
(2N)
1/2
. (A.34)
471
and therefore
ln N! = N ln N N +
1
2
ln(2N) (Stirlings approximation). (A.35)
The Gamma function is dened as
(n) =
_

0
x
n1
e
x
dx (Gamma function). (A.36)
It is easy to show by integrating by parts that
(n + 1) = n(n) = n! (positive integer n). (A.37)
Note that (1) = (2) = 1. Hence (n) can be interpreted as a generalization of the factorial
function.
For half integer arguments, (n/2) has the special form

_
n
2
_
=
(n 2)!!

2
n1)/2
, (A.38)
where n!! = n (n 2) 3 1 if n is odd and n!! = n (n 2) 4 2 if n is even.
We also have 1!! = 0!! = 1, (
1
2
) =

, and (
3
2
) =

/2.
A.7 Bernoulli Numbers
The Bernoulli numbers are the coecients of x
n
/n! in the expansion of
x
e
x
1
=

n=0
B
n
x
n
n!
. (A.39)
All the Bernoulli numbers B
n
with odd n are zero except for B
1
, that is, B
2n+1
= 0 for n > 0:
B
0
= 1, B
1
=
1
2
, B
2
=
1
6
, B
4
=
1
30
, B
6
=
1
42
, B
8
=
1
30
. (A.40)
A.8 Probability Distributions
P
N
(n) =
N!
n! (N n)!
p
n
q
(Nn)
(binomial distribution). (A.41)
The binomial distribution is specied by the probability p = 1 q and N.
P(x) =
1

2
2
e
(xx)
2
/2
2
(Gaussian distribution). (A.42)
The Gaussian distribution is specied by x and
2
= x
2
x
2
:
P(n) =

n
n!
e

(Poisson distribution). (A.43)

The Poisson distribution is specied only by the parameter = n = pN.
472
A.9 Fourier Transforms
The Fourier transform of the function f(x) is dened as
f(k) =
_
f(x) e
ikx
dx. (A.44)
Similarly, the inverse transform of f(k) is dened as
f(x) =
1
2
_
f(k)e
ikx
dk. (A.45)
Note the sign of the exponential in (A.44) and the presence of the factor of 1/2 in (A.45). Other
denitions of the Fourier transform are common, especially in elds other than physics. In three
dimensions we have
f(k) =
_
f(r)e
ikr
d
3
r. (A.46)
The three integrals in (A.46) can be reduced to a single integral if f(r) depends only on r = |r|
by using spherical coordinates. We write dr = dxdy dz r
2
sin dr d d and k r kr cos .
Hence, we can write
f(k) =
_

0
_

0
_
2
0
f(r)e
ikr cos
r
2
dr sin d d. (A.47)
The integral over gives 2. We can do the integral over by making the substitution x = cos
and writing dx = sin d:
_

0
e
ikr cos
sin d
_
1
1
e
ikrx
dx =
1
ikr
_
e
ikrx
_
x=1
x=1
(A.48a)
=
1
ikr
[e
ikr
e
ikr
] =
2
kr
sin kr, (A.48b)
where [e
ikr
e
ikr
]/2i = sin kr. Hence (A.46) reduces to
f(k) = 4
_

0
f(r) r
sin kr
k
dr. (A.49)
A.10 The Delta Function
The Kronecker delta
ij
is dened as

ij
=
_
1 if i = j,
0 if i = j,
(A.50)
where i and j are integers. The Kronecker delta has the property that

i=

ij
a
i
= a
j
. (A.51)
473
The Dirac delta function (x) can be thought of as a generalization of the Kronecker delta
function for continuous variables. Loosely speaking, (x) is zero everywhere except at x = 0 where
its value is innitely large such that its integral is 1, that is,
_

(x) dx = 1. (A.52)
The Dirac delta function has the useful property that
_

f(x)(x) dx = f(0), (A.53)

or more generally
_

f(x)(x a) dx = f(a). (A.54)

Note that the property of the Dirac delta in (A.54) is analogous to (A.51). Another useful property
is that
_

(x) dx =
1
||
. (A.55)
Despite its name, the Dirac delta function is not really a function and was not rst introduced by
Dirac.
The Fourier transform can be used to obtain a useful representation of the Dirac delta function.
The Fourier transform of (x) is
(k) =
_

(x)e
ikx
dx = 1. (A.56)
The inverse transform gives the desired representation:
(x) =
1
2
_

e
ikx
dk. (A.57)
A.11 Convolution Integrals
A convolution integral expresses the amount of overlap of one function as its argument is shifted
from the argument of another function. The form of the convolution integral in one dimension is
C(x) =
_

f(x

)g(x x

) dx

. (A.58)
The integral (A.58) can be expressed as a product of two Fourier transforms. To derive this result
we use (A.45) to write the right-hand side of (A.58) as
C(x) =
1
(2)
2
___
f(k)g(k

)e
ikx

e
ik

(xx

)
dk dk

dx

. (A.59)
474
We rst group terms that depend on x

and do the integral over x

using (A.57):
_
e
ix

(kk

)
dx

= 2(k k

). (A.60)
We then use this result to write the right-hand side of (A.59) as
C(x) =
1
2
__
f(k)g(k

)e
ik

x
(k k

)dk dk

(A.61a)
=
1
2
_
f(k)g(k)e
ikx
dk. (A.61b)
A.12 Fermi and Bose Integrals
The integrals that commonly occur in the context of the ideal Fermi gas have the form
_

0
x
n
e
x
+ 1
dx =
_
1
1
2
n
_
(n + 1)(n + 1), (A.62)
where the Riemann zeta function is dened by
(n) =

k=0
1
(k + 1)
n
. (A.63)
The values of (n) that we will use most often are

_
3
2
_
2.612, (A.64a)
(2) =

2
6
1.645, (A.64b)

_
5
2
_
1.341, (A.64c)
(3) 1.202, (A.64d)
(4) =

4
90
1.082. (A.64e)
The integrals that are needed in the context of the ideal Bose gas have the form
_

0
dx
x
n
e
x
1
=
_

0
dx
x
n
e
x
1 e
x
=
_

0
dxx
n

k=0
e
(k+1)x
(A.65a)
=

k=0
_

0
dxx
n
e
(k+1)x
=

k=0
1
(k + 1)
n+1
_

0
dy y
n
e
y
. (A.65b)
If we use the denition of the Riemann zeta function in (A.62) and the denition of the Gamma
function in (A.36), we obtain
_

0
dx
x
n
e
x
= (n + 1)(n + 1). (A.66)
475
If n is an integer, than (A.66) reduces to
I(n) = n!(n + 1). (A.67)