4.II.34D
Part II, 2008
Show that the Fermi momentum of a gas of non-interacting electrons in volume is
Consider the electrons to be effectively massless, so that an electron of momentum has (relativistic) energy . Show that the mean energy per electron at zero temperature is .
When a constant external magnetic field of strength is applied to the electron gas, each electron gets an energy contribution depending on whether its spin is parallel or antiparallel to the field. Here is the magnitude of the magnetic moment of an electron. Calculate the total magnetic moment of the electron gas at zero temperature, assuming is much less than .