Paper 3, Section II, C

Statistical Physics
Part II, 2021

(a) A gas of non-interacting particles with spin degeneracy gsg_{s} has the energymomentum relationship E=A(k)αE=A(\hbar k)^{\alpha}, for constants A,α>0A, \alpha>0. Show that the density of states, g(E)dEg(E) d E, in a dd-dimensional volume VV with d2d \geqslant 2 is given by

g(E)dE=BVE(dα)/αdEg(E) d E=B V E^{(d-\alpha) / \alpha} d E

where BB is a constant that you should determine. [You may denote the surface area of a unit (d1)(d-1)-dimensional sphere by Sd1S_{d-1}.]

(b) Write down the Bose-Einstein distribution for the average number of identical bosons in a state with energy Er0E_{r} \geqslant 0 in terms of β=1/kBT\beta=1 / k_{B} T and the chemical potential μ\mu. Explain why μ<0\mu<0.

(c) Show that an ideal quantum Bose gas in a dd-dimensional volume VV, with E=A(k)αE=A(\hbar k)^{\alpha}, as above, has

pV=DE,p V=D E,

where pp is the pressure and DD is a constant that you should determine.

(d) For such a Bose gas, write down an expression for the number of particles that do not occupy the ground state. Use this to determine the values of α\alpha for which there exists a Bose-Einstein condensate at sufficiently low temperatures.