Paper 2, Section II, E
Briefly describe the microcanonical, canonical and grand canonical ensembles. Why do they agree in the thermodynamic limit?
A harmonic oscillator in one spatial dimension has Hamiltonian
Here and are the momentum and position of the oscillator, is its mass and its frequency. The harmonic oscillator is placed in contact with a heat bath at temperature . What is the relevant ensemble?
Treating the harmonic oscillator classically, compute the mean energy , the energy fluctuation and the heat capacity .
Treating the harmonic oscillator quantum mechanically, compute the mean energy , the energy fluctuation and the heat capacity .
In what limit of temperature do the classical and quantum results agree? Explain why they differ away from this limit. Describe an experiment for which this difference has implications.