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Assignment 04

This document is an assignment for PHY304: Statistical Mechanics, dated January 29, 2025. It includes problems related to integrals, probability distributions in random walks, and modeling molecular trajectories in gases. The assignment requires the application of various mathematical techniques to solve the problems presented.

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Richik Modak
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2 views

Assignment 04

This document is an assignment for PHY304: Statistical Mechanics, dated January 29, 2025. It includes problems related to integrals, probability distributions in random walks, and modeling molecular trajectories in gases. The assignment requires the application of various mathematical techniques to solve the problems presented.

Uploaded by

Richik Modak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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PHY304: Statistical Mechanics

Assignment 4
January 29, 2025

1. Approximate the integral


Z ∞   
1
I(λ) = exp −λ x + dx
0 x

for large values of λ ≫ 1 using saddle point method.

2. Show that
∞
Z r
2 π
exp(−ax )dx =
−∞ a

3. The probability that the particle doing one dimensional random walk ends up
between x and x + dx at time t is given by W (x, t)dx where

x2
 
1
W (x, t) = √ exp − .
4πDt 4Dt

Show that

(a) The average displacement ⟨x⟩ of the particle after time t is zero.
(b) The mean square distance travelled after Rtime t is equal to 2Dt. In this
∞
exercise you need to evaluate the integral −∞ x2 exp(−ax2 )dx.
In general, by using the relation given in problem 1, one can evaluate the
following family of integrals quite easily
Z ∞
x2n exp −ax2 .

−∞

(c) ⟨x4 ⟩ = 3⟨x2 ⟩2


(d) ⟨x6 ⟩ = 15⟨x2 ⟩3

4. Model the trajectory of a molecule in a gas as a random walk in 3D, due to the
collisions. Give an order-of-magnitude estimate of the time it would take an air
molecule in a room to traverse a distance of 1 cm. What about 1 meter? What
about 6 meter?

1
5. Consider the random walk problem in one dimension and suppose that the
probability of a single displacement between s and s + ds is given by
1 b
w(s)ds = ds
π s 2 + b2
Calculate the probability P (x)dx that the total displacement after N steps lies
between x and x + dx. Does P (x) become Gaussian when N becomes large? If
not, does this violate the central limit theorem.

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