Paramagnetism
- Energy Temperature Paramagnetism
- face Entropy and Temperature
face Lecture
120 min.
Entropy and Temperature
Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020paramagnet entropy temperature statistical mechanics
These lecture notes for the second week of Thermal and Statistical Physics involve relating entropy and temperature in the microcanonical ensemble, using a paramagnet as an example. These notes include a few small group activities. - assignment Nucleus in a Magnetic Field
assignment Homework
Nucleus in a Magnetic Field
Energy and Entropy 2021 (2 years)Nuclei of a particular isotope species contained in a crystal have spin \(I=1\), and thus, \(m = \{+1,0,-1\}\). The interaction between the nuclear quadrupole moment and the gradient of the crystalline electric field produces a situation where the nucleus has the same energy, \(E=\varepsilon\), in the state \(m=+1\) and the state \(m=-1\), compared with an energy \(E=0\) in the state \(m=0\), i.e. each nucleus can be in one of 3 states, two of which have energy \(E=\varepsilon\) and one has energy \(E=0\).
Find the Helmholtz free energy \(F = U-TS\) for a crystal containing \(N\) nuclei which do not interact with each other.
Find an expression for the entropy as a function of temperature for this system. (Hint: use results of part a.)
- Indicate what your results predict for the entropy at the extremes of very high temperature and very low temperature.
- assignment Centrifuge
assignment Homework
Centrifuge
Centrifugal potential Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020 A circular cylinder of radius \(R\) rotates about the long axis with angular velocity \(\omega\). The cylinder contains an ideal gas of atoms of mass \(M\) at temperature \(T\). Find an expression for the dependence of the concentration \(n(r)\) on the radial distance \(r\) from the axis, in terms of \(n(0)\) on the axis. Take \(\mu\) as for an ideal gas. - assignment Entropy of mixing
assignment Homework
Entropy of mixing
Entropy Equilibrium Sackur-Tetrode Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020Suppose that a system of \(N\) atoms of type \(A\) is placed in diffusive contact with a system of \(N\) atoms of type \(B\) at the same temperature and volume.
Show that after diffusive equilibrium is reached the total entropy is increased by \(2Nk\ln 2\). The entropy increase \(2Nk\ln 2\) is known as the entropy of mixing.
If the atoms are identical (\(A=B\)), show that there is no increase in entropy when diffusive contact is established. The difference has been called the Gibbs paradox.
Since the Helmholtz free energy is lower for the mixed \(AB\) than for the separated \(A\) and \(B\), it should be possible to extract work from the mixing process. Construct a process that could extract work as the two gasses are mixed at fixed temperature. You will probably need to use walls that are permeable to one gas but not the other.
- Note
This course has not yet covered work, but it was covered in Energy and Entropy, so you may need to stretch your memory to finish part (c).
- face Chemical potential and Gibbs distribution
face Lecture
120 min.
Chemical potential and Gibbs distribution
Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020chemical potential Gibbs distribution grand canonical ensemble statistical mechanics
These notes from the fifth week of Thermal and Statistical Physics cover the grand canonical ensemble. They include several small group activities. - assignment Series Notation 1
assignment Homework
Series Notation 1
Static Fields 2023 (6 years)Write out the first four nonzero terms in the series:
\[\sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty \frac{1}{n!}\]
- \[\sum\limits_{n=1}^\infty \frac{(-1)^n}{n!}\]
- \begin{equation} \sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty {(-2)^{n}\,\theta^{2n}} \end{equation}
- assignment Entropy, energy, and enthalpy of van der Waals gas
assignment Homework
Entropy, energy, and enthalpy of van der Waals gas
Van der Waals gas Enthalpy Entropy Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020In this entire problem, keep results to first order in the van der Waals correction terms \(a\) and $b.
Show that the entropy of the van der Waals gas is \begin{align} S &= Nk\left\{\ln\left(\frac{n_Q(V-Nb)}{N}\right)+\frac52\right\} \end{align}
Show that the energy is \begin{align} U &= \frac32 NkT - \frac{N^2a}{V} \end{align}
Show that the enthalpy \(H\equiv U+pV\) is \begin{align} H(T,V) &= \frac52NkT + \frac{N^2bkT}{V} - 2\frac{N^2a}{V} \\ H(T,p) &= \frac52NkT + Nbp - \frac{2Nap}{kT} \end{align}
Effects of High Altitude by Randall Munroe, at xkcd. - assignment_ind Magnetic Moment \& Stern-Gerlach Experiments
assignment_ind Small White Board Question
30 min.
Magnetic Moment & Stern-Gerlach Experiments
Quantum Fundamentals 2023 (3 years)Angular Momentum Spin Magnetic Moment Stern-Gerlach Experiments
Students consider the relation (1) between the angular momentum and magnetic moment for a current loop and (2) the force on a magnetic moment in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. Students make a (classical) prediction of the outcome of a Stern-Gerlach experiment. - assignment Magnetic susceptibility
assignment Homework
Magnetic susceptibility
Paramagnet Magnetic susceptibility Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020Consider a paramagnet, which is a material with \(n\) spins per unit volume each of which may each be either “up” or “down”. The spins have energy \(\pm mB\) where \(m\) is the magnetic dipole moment of a single spin, and there is no interaction between spins. The magnetization \(M\) is defined as the total magnetic moment divided by the total volume. Hint: each individual spin may be treated as a two-state system, which you have already worked with above.
Plot of magnetization vs. B field Find the Helmholtz free energy of a paramagnetic system (assume \(N\) total spins) and show that \(\frac{F}{NkT}\) is a function of only the ratio \(x\equiv \frac{mB}{kT}\).
Use the canonical ensemble (i.e. partition function and probabilities) to find an exact expression for the total magentization \(M\) (which is the total dipole moment per unit volume) and the susceptibility \begin{align} \chi\equiv\left(\frac{\partial M}{\partial B}\right)_T \end{align} as a function of temperature and magnetic field for the model system of magnetic moments in a magnetic field. The result for the magnetization is \begin{align} M=nm\tanh\left(\frac{mB}{kT}\right) \end{align} where \(n\) is the number of spins per unit volume. The figure shows what this magnetization looks like.
Show that the susceptibility is \(\chi=\frac{nm^2}{kT}\) in the limit \(mB\ll kT\).
- face Basics of heat engines
face Lecture
10 min.
Basics of heat engines
Contemporary Challenges 2021 (4 years) This brief lecture covers the basics of heat engines. - Thermal and Statistical Physics 2020 Find the equilibrium value at temperature \(T\) of the fractional magnetization \begin{equation} \frac{\mu_{tot}}{Nm} \equiv \frac{2\langle s\rangle}{N} \end{equation} of a system of \(N\) spins each of magnetic moment \(m\) in a magnetic field \(B\). The spin excess is \(2s\). The energy of this system is given by \begin{align} U &= -\mu_{tot}B \end{align} where \(\mu_{tot}\) is the total magnetization. Take the entropy as the logarithm of the multiplicity \(g(N,s)\) as given in (1.35 in the text): \begin{equation} S(s) \approx k_B\log g(N,0) - k_B\frac{2s^2}{N} \end{equation} for \(|s|\ll N\), where \(s\) is the spin excess, which is related to the magnetization by \(\mu_{tot} = 2sm\). Hint: Show that in this approximation \begin{equation} S(U) = S_0 - k_B\frac{U^2}{2m^2B^2N}, \end{equation} with \(S_0=k_B\log g(N,0)\). Further, show that \(\frac1{kT} = -\frac{U}{m^2B^2N}\), where \(U\) denotes \(\langle U\rangle\), the thermal average energy.