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This document is an assignment for a Statistical Mechanics course, consisting of five problems related to thermalized ideal gases, harmonic oscillators, Liouville's theorem, entropy calculations, and paramagnet modeling. Each problem requires derivations, calculations, and sketches to illustrate concepts such as phase-space density, energy conservation, and temperature relationships. The assignment is dated February 13, 2025, and includes detailed instructions for each question.

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2 views2 pages

Assignment05 (1)

This document is an assignment for a Statistical Mechanics course, consisting of five problems related to thermalized ideal gases, harmonic oscillators, Liouville's theorem, entropy calculations, and paramagnet modeling. Each problem requires derivations, calculations, and sketches to illustrate concepts such as phase-space density, energy conservation, and temperature relationships. The assignment is dated February 13, 2025, and includes detailed instructions for each question.

Uploaded by

hamrazh2004
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
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PHY304: Statistical Mechanics

Assignment 5
February 13, 2025

1. A thermalized ideal gas particle is suddenly confined to a one-dimension trap.


The corresponding mixed state is described by an√initial density function ρ(q, p, t =
0) = δ(q)f (p), where f (p) = exp(−p2 /2mkB T )/ 2πmkB T .

(a) Starting from Liouville’s equation, derive ρ(q, p, t) and sketch it in the
(q, p) plane.
(b) Derive the expressions for the averages ⟨q 2 ⟩ and ⟨p2 ⟩ at t > 0.

2. Consider an ensemble of N particles, where each particle can be treated as a


3-dimensional isotropic simple harmonic oscillator. The Hamiltonian for this
system is given by
3N
X 1 2 mω 2 2
H= pi + qi
i=1
2m 2

(a) Show that the Liouville’s theorem holds for this system.
(b) How does the phase-space volume for the system evolves in time?
(c) If the initial distribution of qi and pi ’s for each particle is normal, i.e.,
 
1 1 2 2 2

ρ(qi , pi , t = 0) = exp − pi + mω qi ,
2π 2

what will be the distribution ρ(qi , pi , t) at time t?

3. One of the foundational assumptions of Liouville’s theorem is that the system


obeys the conservation of energy. Consider again the system of N particles each
in a 3-dimensional isotropic harmonic potential, the Hamiltonian for which is
given in the previous problem. This time, we add the condition that each
particle experiences a frictional force given by −γpi , where γ > 0 is friction
coefficient.
Show that for this system, the infinitesimal phase-space volume is no longer
constant, and thus the phase-space density is not conserved.

1
4. Consider N harmonic oscillators with coordinates and momenta {qi , pi }, and
subject to a Hamiltonian

N
X p2i 1
H({qi , pi }) = + mω 2 qi2 .
i=1
2m 2

(a) Calculate the entropy S, as a function of the total energy E.


(b) Calculate the energy E, and heat capacity C, as functions of temperature
T , and N .
(c) Find the joint probability density P (p, q) for a single oscillator. Hence
calculate the mean kinetic energy, and mean potential energy for each
oscillator.

5. A paramagnet in one dimension can be modelled as a linear chain of N + 1


spins. Each spin interacts with its neighbours in such a way that the energy is
U = nϵ where n is the number of domain walls separating regions of up spins
from down as shown by a vertical line in the representation below.

↑↑↑ | ↓↓↓↓ | ↑↑↑↑↑ | ↓↓

How many ways can n domain walls be arranged? Calculate the entropy, S(U ),
and hence show that the energy is related to the temperature as
Nϵ
U= .
exp(ϵ/kT ) + 1

Sketch the energy and the heat capacity as a function of temperature, paying
particular attention to the asymptotic behaviour for low and for high tempera-
tures.

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