DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI

B.Sc.(H) PHYSICS (CBCS)

SEMESTER - VI

STATISTICAL MECHANICS

Model Problem Set

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1 Classical Statistics
1.1 Macrostate and Microstate, Phase Space, Ensemble, Thermodynamic
Probability

Problem 1: Consider a particle undergoing simple harmonic motion such that the position of the
particle changes with time as x = x0 cos(ωt + φ), where the phase φ is completely unknown, and therefore
the position of the oscillator is not known. One therefore has to resort to determining the probability
that the position of the oscillator lies between x and x + dx.

(a) This probability must be proportional to the time the oscillator spends between x and x + dx. Find
the speed of the oscillator at position x as a function of x, ω and x0 . Using this expression, determine
the probability p(x)dx that the position of the oscillator is between x and x + dx.

(b) Let the energy of the oscillator lie between E and E + ∆E, where ∆E << E. Sketch the phase space
and the region accessible to the particle, calculating the volume of the accessible region. Next,
compute the ratio of the volume of the accessible phase space corresponding to the position of the
particle lying between x and x + dx and the total volume of the accessible phase space. What does
this result signify?

Problem 2: Consider an isolated system of four non-interacting spins labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4, each with
magnetic moment m, interacting with an external magnetic field B. Each spin can be parallel (‘up’) or
antiparallel (‘down’) to B, with the energy of a spin parallel to B equal to  = −mB and the energy of a
spin antiparallel to B equal to  = +mB. Let the total energy of the system be E = −2mB.

(a) How many microstates of the system correspond to this macrostate? Enumerate these microstates.

(b) What is the probability that the system is in a given microstate in equilibrium?

(c) What is the probability that a given spin points up? Use this probability to campute the mean
magnetic moment of a given spin in equilibrium.

(d) What is the probability that if spin 1 is ‘up’, spin 2 is also ‘up’ ?

Problem 3: Consider a system of four non-interacting distinguishable particles, with each particle
localised to a lattice site. The energy of each particle is is restricted to values  = 0, 0 , 20 , 30 , .... The
system is divided into two subsystems A and B, subsystem A consisting of particles 1 and 2, and B
consisting of particles 3 and 4 respectively. A and B are initially thermally insulated from each other,
with energies EA = 50 and EB = 0 . What are the possible microstates of the composite system? Now,
suppose the two subsystems are allowed to thermally interact with each other, so that they can exchange
energy without the total energy of the system changing. After equilibrium is attained, enumerate the
possible microstates of the composite system. In equilibrium, what is the probability that subsystem A
has energy EA , for EA = 0, 0 , 20 , .., 60 ? For what value of EA is the probability maximum?

1.2 Entropy and Thermodynamic Probability

Problem 1: Consider a system of N particles (which could be interacting with each other) with energy
E and occupying a volume V . The entropy of the system is known to be extensive. Suppose the energy
of the system is changed, such that the new energy is λE, where λ is a multiplicative factor. Can you say

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that the new entropy will be λS, where S is the original entropy? If not, what other changes will be
needed such that this is true?

Problem 2: Consider a system of N >> 1 weakly interacting particles, each of which can be in quantum
states with energies 0, , 2, 3, .... Given the system has a certain energy, the temperature of the system
is given by
1 ∂S
=
T ∂E
∆S
'
∆E
where ∆S is the change in the entropy of the system due to the change in the energy of the system by
∆E.

(a) If the system is in its ground state, what is its entropy?

(b) If the total energy of the system is , what is its entropy?

(c) What is the change in entropy of the system if the total energy of the system is increased from  to
2?

(d) Given the above definition of temperature, what is the temperature of the system if its total energy is
?

Problem 3: A system of four weakly interacting distinct particles is such that each particle can be in
one of four states with energies , 2, 3 and 4 respectively. If the system has total energy 15, what is
the entropy of the system? For what possible values of total energy is the entropy of the system zero?

Problem 4: Consider a lattice of N non-interacting distinguishable particles, with each particle localised
to a lattice site. The energy of each particle is restricted to values  = 0, 0 , 20 , 30 , .... The system is in
equilibrium.

(a) If the energy of the system is E, what is the number of microstates of the system?

(b) Find an expression for the entropy of the system as a function of energy and simplify it using
Sterling’s approximation ln n ' n ln n − n for n >> 1.

(c) Using the relation

1 ∂S
=
T ∂E
determine a relation between the energy of the system and its temperature.

Hint: The problem of determining the number of microstates can be reduced to counting the number of
ways of arranging a certain number of sticks and a certain number of dots along a line.

1.3 Maxwell Boltzmann Distribution

Problem 1: Consider atomic hydrogen in thermal equilibrium at temperature T . Estimate the ratio of
the number of atoms with energy E = −3.4 eV to the number of atoms with energy E = −13.6 eV for
T = 1000◦ K.

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Problem 2: A system of N weakly interacting particles, each of mass m, is in thermal equilibrium at
temperature T . The system is contained in a cubical box of side L, whose top and bottom surfaces are
parallel to the Earth’s surface, where the acceleration due to gravity is g. A coordinate system is set up
with the origin at the centre of the base of the box and the positive z axis along the vertical direction,
such that the ranges of coordinates accessible to any particle are −L/2 ≤ x ≤ L/2, −L/2 ≤ y ≤ L/2,
0 ≤ z ≤ L.

(a) What is the probability that a given particle has velocity in the range (vx , vy , vz ) and
(vx + dvx , vy + dvy , vz + dvz )?

(b) What is the probability that a given particle has x coordinate between x and x + dx?

(c) What is the probability that a given particle has y coordinate between y and y + dy?

(d) What is the probability that a given particle has z coordinate between z and z + dz?

(e) From the above probability distributions, calculate the mean kinetic and potential energies of a
particle.

Problem 3: A two-dimensional solid at temperature T contains N negatively charged impurity ions per
unit area, the negative ions replacing some ordinary atoms of the solid. The solid as a whole is
electrically neutral, since each negative ion with charge −e has in its vicinity one positive ion with charge
+e. The positive ion, much smaller, is free to move between each of the four equidistance sites A, B, C
and D surrounding the stationary negative ion, as shown. The spacing between the these sites is a and
the energy of interaction of the positive ion with the stationary negative ion is −0 for each lattice site

(a) What are the relative probabilities of the positive ion being found at the four lattice sites?

(b) The solid is placed in a region of a uniform electric field of magnitude E, as illustrated above. Taking
the origin at the location of the negative ion, determine the interaction energy of the system with the
external electric field at the four lattice sites (the interaction energy is Eint = −~ ~ where p~ is the
p·E
dipole moment of the system).

(c) What now are the relative probabilities of the positive ion being found at the four lattice sites?

(d) The mean polarisation of the solid is the mean dipole moment per unit area along the direction of the
electric field. Calculate the polarisation of the solid as a function of temperature and the external
electric field E.

(e) Calculate the expression for the polarisation at ‘high’ temperatures. What temperatures are ‘high’ ?

Problem 4: A sensitive spring balance consists of a quartz spring with spring constant k. This balance
is used to measure the mass of very tiny, light objects by suspending them from the balance and
observing the extension in the spring. Consider a tiny object of mass m suspended from the spring. The
object is in an environment which is at temperature T , and gets ‘kicked’ around by it, reaching
equilibrium with the environment.

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 1. What is the potential energy of the system if the spring is extended by x?

2. What is the probability that the spring is extended by x relative to its equilibrium length?

3. Calculate the mean extension x and the mean squared extension (x − x)2 .

4. Comparing the square root of the mean squared extension with the mean extension, extimate the
minimum mass that can be reliably measured.

1.4 Partition Function, Heat Capacity, Entropy

Problem 1: Consider a single particle system with five states. There is one state with energy 0, two
states with energy  and two states with energy 2. The system is in equilibrium with a heat bath at
temperature T .
(a) Calculate the partition function for the system.

(b) Calculate the mean energy and heat capacity of the system as functions of temperature.

(c) What is the relative probability of the system having energy 2 and ?

Problem 2: The partition function of a system is given by

lnZ = aT 4 V

where T is the absolute temperature, V is the volume of the system and a is a constant. Evaluate the
mean energy, pressure and entropy of the system.

Problem 3: Consider a simplified model of graphite, in which each carbon atom acts as a harmonic
oscillator, oscillating with frequency ω within the layer and frequency ω 0 perpendicular to it. The
oscillations in the three directions are independent, such that the expression for energy of a carbon atom
is
1 2 m
E= (p + p2y + p2z ) + (ω 2 x2 + ω 2 y 2 + ω 02 z 2 )
2m x 2
where coordinates x, y are in the plane of the layer and z is perpendicular to it. The sample is at
temperature T , such that ~ω >> T and ~ω 0 << T (the restoring forces in the plane of the layer are much
stronger than those perpendicular to it).
(a) Given the temperature conditions, one kind of the oscillations (in the plane or perpendicular to it)
can be treated classically, and the other quantum mechanically with only the ground and first excited
states appreciably populated. Identify the corresponding oscillations.

(b) Taking into account the above considerations, calculate the partition function and show that it
factorises into three factors, two of which are identical.

(c) Find an expression for the molar specific heat of the system as a function of temperature, using
approximations appropriate to the temperature conditions stated above.

Problem 4: N diatomic molecules are stuck on a surface. Each molecule can either lie flat on the
surface (in which case it can orient itself either along the x or the y direction) or it can stand up
perpendicular to the surface (along the z direction). Assume that the flat configurations have zero energy
and the configuration perpendicular to the surface has energy  > 0. The system is in thermal
equilibrium at temperature T > 0.

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(a) Calculate the partition function of the system.

(b) Calculate the mean energy of the system. What is the largest possible value for this energy (attained
by changing the temperature)?

(c) Calculate the heat capacity of the system as a function of temperature.

(d) What is the probability of a given molecule ‘standing up’ ?

1.5 Negative Temperatures

Problem 1: Consider an isolated system of N >> 1 weakly interacting, distinct particles in equilibrium.
Each particle can be in one of three states, with energies 0,  and 2 respectively. Given the system has a
certain energy, the temperature of the system is given by
1 ∂S
=
T ∂E
∆S
'
∆E
where ∆S is the change in the entropy of the system due to the change in the energy of the system by
∆E.

(a) Let the entire system be in its ground state. What is its entropy? If the anergy ∆E =  is added to
the system, what is its entropy? Given the definition of temperature above, what can you say about
the temperature of the system if it is in the ground state?

(b) Let the total energy of the system be 2N  − . What is the entropy of the system? What is the
entropy of the system if energy ∆E =  is added to it? If the system has energy 2N  − , what can
you say about the temperature of the system?

Problem 2: Consider an isolated system of N >> 1 weakly interacting, distinct particles in equilibrium.
Each particle can be in one of M states with energies 0 , 20 , ..., M 0 . Can this system exhibit negative
temperatures? If so, give a value of energy corresponding to which the temperature of the system is (a)
positive (b) negative. (c) If M −→ ∞, will the system exhibit negative temperatures? Give a physical
argument.

Problem 3: Consider two systems A and B, system A consisting of NA >> 1 weakly interacting
particles, each of which can be in one of an infinite number of possible quantum states with energies
0, , 2, 3, .... System B on the other hand consisting of NB >> 1 weakly interacting particles, each of
which can be in one of two quantum states with energies 0, . Initially, these systems are insulated from
each other, with system A having total energy NA  and B having energy 3NB /4.

(a) What can you say about the sign of the temperatures of these two systems?

(b) The systems are now made to interact with each other, till they reach equilibrium. What is the sign
of the temperature of each system after equilibrium is attained?

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1.6 Equipartition Principle

Problem 1: Consider a classical system of N >> 1 independent oscillators, each of which has energy
given by
p2 1
= + kx2
2m 2
where x and p are the position and momentum of the particle. If the system is in equilibrium at
temperature T , what is the molar specific heat of the system? If the expression for energy has a small
correction which is not quadratic in x, what will be the qualitative change in the behaviour of the specific
heat of the system?

Problem 2: Consider a classical system of N >> 1 weakly interacting particles, each of which has
energy given by
p2 1
= + kx2 + λx4
2m 2
where x and p are the position and momentum of the particle. The system is in equilibrium at
temperature T .
(a) If λ = 0, what is the moler specific heat of the system?
(b) If λ is not zero, but the quartic term is very ‘small’ compared to the quadratic term, what will be the
variation in the specific heat of the system with temperature? Hint: Use eu ' 1 + u for ‘small’ u.

Problem 3: Consider a weakly interacting system of particles, such that the expression for energy of any
one particle consists of n terms, quadratic in position and momentum components. If classical physics is
an adequate description of this system, what is the molar specific heat of the system? If the temperature
of the system is progressively lowered, will the experimentally measured molar specific heat be in
agreement with this result? Explain.

2 Theory of Radiation

Problem 1: Estimate the surface temperature of the red giant star Aldebaran, given that it emits
radiation with maximum intensity at a wavelength of 7250Å. You can use the fact that the maximum
intensity of solar radiation is at wavelength 5000Å and corresponds to a surface temperature of about
5780◦ K.

Problem 2: Electromagnetic radiation inside a cavity of volume V is in equilibrium at temperature T .

If the temperature of the cavity is halved, by what factor does the pressure change? How does this
compare with a classical monoatomic gas under similar conditions?

Problem 3: If Planck’s constant were zero, what would be the total energy of radiation contained in a
cavity of volume V at temeprature T ?

Problem 4: At what rate does radiation escape from a hole 10cm2 in area, in the wall of a furnace
whose interior is at a temperature of 1000◦ K?

Problem 5: Blackbody radiation undergoes adiabatic expansion. Give a combination of thermodynamic

quantities that remains unchanged.

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Problem 6: A crystalline dielectric solid has refractive index n, assumed to be reasonably constant. The
solid is at a temperature of 300◦ K. Calculate the contribution of black-body radiation to its molar
specific heat. Compare this with the classical molar specific heat of 3R

Problem 8: The surface temperature of the Sun is about 5500◦ K and its radius about 7 × 108 m. The
radius of the Earth is about 6.4 × 104 m and the mean distance of the Earth from the sun is about
1.5 × 1011 m. Assume that the Sun acts as a perfect black body and that the Earth absorbs all the
radiation incident on it (and then re-emits it like a blackbody, ignoring greenhouse effects). Given that
the Earth is in radiative equilibrium, estimate the temperature of the Earth.

Problem 9: The filament of a light bulb is cylindrical with length l = 20 mm and radius r = 0.05 mm.
The filament is maintained at a temperature T = 5000◦ K by an electric current. The filament behaves
approximately as a black body. At night, you observe the light bulb from a distance D = 10 km with the
pupil of your eye fully dilated to a radius r0 = 3 mm.

(a) What is the total power radiated by the filament?

(b) How much radiative energy per unit time enters your eye?

(c) At what wavelength does the filament radiate the most power?

Problem 10: A cavity of volume 1cm3 is filled with blackbody radiation at temperature 727◦ K. What
is the average number of photons in the cavity? Use can use the following result:
Z ∞
x2
dx x = 2.404
0 e −1

Problem 11: Radiation in equilibrium fills a hot enclosure. How high must the temperature of the
enclosure be for the radiation pressure to be equal to one atmosphere?

Problem 12: The cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang today fills the
universe with blackbody radiation at temperature T = 2.76◦ K. What is the mean number density of
photons? Use can use the following result:
Z ∞
x2
dx x = 2.404
0 e −1

Problem 13: Consider blackbody radiation in equilibrium at temperature T . Let u(ν)dν be the energy
density of the radiation in the frequency interval ν to ν + dν and let ũ(λ)dλ be the energy density in the
wavelength interval λ to λ + dλ. Calculate νmax and λmax , where νmax is the frequency corresponding to
which u(ν) is maximum and λmax the wavelength corresponding to which ũ(λ) is maximum. Are these
related as λmax = c νmax ? Why?

Problem 14: A gas cloud in our galaxy emits radiation at a rate of 1027 W . The radiation has maximum
intensity at wavelength λ = 10µm. Assuming the cloud to be spherical and that it emits like a blackbody,
estimate the diameter of the cloud.

Problem 15: Consider a hypothetical system of massless Bosonic particles which can be emitted and
absorbed by matter, just like photons. The system is confined to a two-dimensional area A and is in
equilibrium at temperature T . Performing an analysis similar to that for a three-dimensional photon gas,
determine the temperature dependence of the energy density (energy per unit area) of the system.

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3 Fermi Dirac and Bose Einstein Statistics

Problem 1: Seven Bosons are arranged in two compartments. The first compartment has 8 cells and the
second compartment has 9 cells of equal size. What is the total number of microstates for the macrostate
(3,4)?

Problem 2: Six Fermions are arranged in two compartments. The first compartment has 7 cells and the
second compartment has 8 cells of equal size. What is the total number of microstates for the macrostate
(2,4)?

Problem 3: Four weakly interacting particles are confined to a cubical box of volume V , with the energy
of any one particle of the form
π 2 ~2 2 2 2


E= n x + n y + n z
2mV 2/3
where nx , ny and nz are natural numbers. What is the energy of the system at absolute zero if the system
is (i) Bosonic (ii) Fermionic? Ignore spin.

Problem 4: Consider a system of two weakly interacting particles. Each particle can be in one of two
states with energies 0 and  respectively. Calculate the partition function of the system if the system is
(i) Bosonic (ii) Fermionic. Calculate the mean energy of the system as a function of temperature and its
value as the temperature approaches absolute zero. Give a physical interpretation of the zero
temperature result.

Problem 5: Calculate the Fermi energy for Silver, given that its density is 10.5 g/cc. The atomic mass
of Silver is 108 g. Assume there is one free electron per atom.

Problem 6: Given a Fermi gas, what is the mean occupation number for a state with energy 2kB T
above the Fermi energy?

Problem 7: The Fermi energy of free electrons in Silver atoms at 0◦ K is 5.51 eV. What is the average
energy per electron?

Problem 8: The occupation number for a system of Bosons diverges for  = µ at finite T . What
phenomenon does this indicate? Does this happen for a system of photons?

Problem 9: An ideal non-relativistic Fermi gas at absolute zero has Fermi energy F , with each particle
having mass m. Calculate the mean value of vx and vx2 , where vx is the x component of velocity of a
particle.

Problem 10: Find an expression for the Fermi energy and the average energy per electron at 0◦ K for a
free electron gas of N electrons confined to a one-dimensional region of length L.

Problem 11: Consider a system of N Bosons occupying volume V . At high enough temperature T , the
system behaves like a classical idea gas, such that the pressure of the system is proportional to T . If the
temperature is such that the system is strongly degenerate, given that a certain fraction of atoms is in
the ground state (and does not contribute to pressure), what power of temperature do you expect the
pressure to be proportionate to? Explain.

Problem 12: Consider a free electron gas consisting of N electrons occupying volume V . At high

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enough temperature T , the system behaves like a classical idea gas, such that the pressure of the system
is proportional to T . At absolute zero, the system exerts a non-zero pressure, the Fermi pressure. If the
temperature of the system is such that the system is strongly degenerate, given that a certain fraction of
electrons are excited above the Fermi energy (and assuming that this fraction exerts pressure just like a
classical gas), what power of temperature do you expect the increase in pressure relative to absolute zero
to be proportionate to? Explain.

Problem 13: Consider an ideal Bose gas in three dimensions with energy-momentum relation  ∝ ps
with s > 0. For what range of s will the system undergo a Bose-Einstein condensation at a non-zero
temperature?

Problem 14: Consider a system of non-interacting quantum particles in three dimensions with
dispersion relation  ∝ k s where  is energy and ~k is the wave-vector, where s is an integer. To what
power of  is the density of states proportional to?

Problem 15: Consider a system of N weakly interacting non-relativistic Bosons confined to a

two-dimensional region of area A. Repeating the standard analysis in three dimensions, test whether
Bose-Einstein condensation occurs in this system at a non-zero temperature.

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