PH307: Mid-semester Examination: 2 hours: Closed Book

Q.1 [10 marks] Find the grand canonical partition function of spin-1 quantum particles (bosons) on an infinite staircase with equal
steps (of energy difference 1 unit). Hint: Ξ = T r(e−βH z N ) and the spin degeneracy is 2S + 1 = 3. Leave your answers as an infinite
product or sum.

From this show that the canonical partition function may be written as,
 2
∞ ∞
9 X −βj  3 X −2βj 6eβ + 3
Z= e + e = 2
2 j=1 2 j=1 (eβ − 1) (eβ + 1)

∂
Hint: Differentiate Ξ twice with respect to z and divide by 2 and set z = 0 to get Z. Find the average energy hU i (hU i = − ∂β log(Z)).
P P
Ans. H = j,σ j nj,σ and N = j,σ nj,σ where σ = −1, 0, 1.
∞
Y X
nj,σ Y
−1 P∞
log(1−e−βj z )
Ξ = T r(e−βH z N ) = e−βj z = 1 − e−βj z = e−3 j=1

j,σ nj,σ =0 j,σ

and,
 2
∞ ∞
9 X −βj  3 X −2βj 6eβ + 3
Z= e + e = 2
2 j=1 2 j=1 (eβ − 1) (eβ + 1)


∂ eβ 5eβ + 4e2β + 3
hU i = − log(Z) = β
∂β (e − 1) (eβ + 1) (2eβ + 1)

Q.2 [10 marks] Imagine 2N labelled sites on a line. At each site there is a spin that can point up or down. If it points up, its energy is
+1 and if it points down, its energy is −1. Find the entropy of the system if the total energy is U where, −2N ≤ U ≤ 2N . Find the
values of U where the temperature is negative. Also find the canonical partition function at temperature T and the average energy.

Ans.
N↑ − N↓ = U ; N↑ + N↓ = 2N
Hence,
U U
N↑ = N + ; N↓ = N −
2 2
!
(2N )! (2N )!
Ω(U ) = ; S(U ) = Log U U
N↑ ! N↓ ! (N + 2 )! (N − 2 )!
∂S
When U > 0 then ∂U < 0.
2N
X X (2N )!
Z= Ω(U )e−βU = e−2β(N↑ −N ) = 22N cosh2N (β)
N↑ ! (2N − N↑ )!
U N↑ =0

∂
< U >= −2N log (2 cosh(β)) = −2N tanh(β)
∂β

1
  
Ve 4πma2 U
+ 3N


Q.3 [10 marks] From the Sackur-Tetrode formula of a classical ideal gas in three dimensions, S(U, V, N ) = N Log N a3 2 Log N h0 2
show that for an adiabatic process that conserves the number of particles, P V γ = const. Find the value of γ.

Ans.  23 !
4πma2 U

3N Ve
S(U, V, N ) = Log
2 N a3 N h0 2

But P V = 23 U . Hence,
e  23 6πma2
 
3N 5
S = const. = Log PV 3
2 N a3 N h0 2
hence,
5
PV 3 = const.
or γ = 35 .