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Series Convergence

Power Series Sequence (E&M)

Recall that, if you take an infinite number of terms, the power series for \(\sin z\) and the function itself \(f(z)=\sin z\) are equivalent representations of the same thing for all real numbers \(z\), (in fact, for all complex numbers \(z\)). This is what it means for the power series to “converge” for all \(z\). Not all power series converge for all values of the argument of the function. More commonly, a power series is only a valid, equivalent representation of a function for some more restricted values of \(z\), EVEN IF YOUR KEEP AN INFINITE NUMBER OF TERMS. The technical name for this idea is convergence--the series only "converges" to the value of the function on some restricted domain, called the “interval” or “region of convergence.”

Find the power series for the function \(f(z)=\frac{1}{1+z^2}\). Then, using the Geogebra applet from class as a model, or some other computer algebra system like Mathematica or Maple, explore the convergence of this series. Where does your series for this new function converge? Can you tell anything about the region of convergence from the graphs of the various approximations? Print out a plot and write a brief description (a sentence or two) of the region of convergence. You may need to include a lot of terms to see the effect of the region of convergence. You may also need to play with the values of \(z\) that you plot. Keep adding terms until you see a really strong effect!

Note: As a matter of professional ettiquette (or in some cases, as a legal copyright requirement), if you use or modify a computer program written by someone else, you should always acknowledge that fact briefly in whatever you write up. Say something like: “This calculation was based on a (name of software package) program titled (title) originally written by (author) copyright (copyright date).”

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Bottle in a Bottle

The internal energy of helium gas at temperature \(T\) is to a very good approximation given by \begin{align} U &= \frac32 Nk_BT \end{align}

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Translating Contours

Consider the diagram of \(T\) vs \(V\) for several different constant values of \(p\).

1. Translate this diagram to a \(p\) vs \(V\) w/ constant \(T\) graph, including the point \(A\). Complete your graph by hand and make a fairly accurate sketch by printing out the attached grid or in some other way making nice square axes with appropriate tick marks.

   

2. Are the lines that you drew straight or curved? What feature of the \(TV\) graph would have to change to change this result?

3. Sketch the line of constant temperature that passes through the point \(A\).

4. What are the values of all the thermodynamic variables associated with the point A?

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Yukawa

In a solid, a free electron doesn't see” a bare nuclear charge since the nucleus is surrounded by a cloud of other electrons. The nucleus will look like the Coulomb potential close-up, but be screened” from far away. A common model for such problems is described by the Yukawa or screened potential: \begin{equation} U(r)= -\frac{k}{r} e^{-\frac{r}{\alpha}} \end{equation}

1. Graph the potential, with and without the exponential term. Describe how the Yukawa potential approximates the “real” situation. In particular, describe the role of the parameter \(\alpha\).
2. Draw the effective potential for the two choices \(\alpha=10\) and \(\alpha=0.1\) with \(k=1\) and \(\ell=1\). For which value(s) of \(\alpha\) is there the possibility of stable circular orbits?

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Effective Potential Diagrams

See also the following more detailed problem and solution: Effective Potentials: Graphical Version

An electron is moving on a two dimension surface with a radially symmetric electrostatic potential given by the graph below:

1. Sketch the effective potential if the angular momentum is not zero.
2. Describe qualitatively, the shapes of all possible types of orbits, indicating the energy for each in your diagram.

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Vapor pressure equation

1. Solve for \(\frac{dp}{dT}\) in terms of the pressure of the vapor and the latent heat \(L\) and the temperature.

2. Assume further that the latent heat is roughly independent of temperature. Integrate to find the vapor pressure itself as a function of temperature (and of course, the latent heat).

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Approximating a Delta Function with Isoceles Triangles

Remember that the delta function is defined so that \[ \delta(x-a)= \begin{cases} 0, &x\ne a\\ \infty, & x=a \end{cases} \]

Also: \[\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} \delta(x-a)\, dx =1\].

1. Find a set of functions that approximate the delta function \(\delta(x-a)\) with a sequence of isosceles triangles \(\delta_{\epsilon}(x-a)\), centered at \(a\), that get narrower and taller as the parameter \(\epsilon\) approaches zero.
2. Using the test function \(f(x)=3x^2\), find the value of \[\int_{-\infty}^{\infty} f(x)\delta_{\epsilon}(x-a)\, dx\] Then, show that the integral approaches \(f(a)\) in the limit that \(\epsilon \rightarrow 0\).

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Gibbs entropy is extensive

Consider two noninteracting systems \(A\) and \(B\). We can either treat these systems as separate, or as a single combined system \(AB\). We can enumerate all states of the combined by enumerating all states of each separate system. The probability of the combined state \((i_A,j_B)\) is given by \(P_{ij}^{AB} = P_i^AP_j^B\). In other words, the probabilities combine in the same way as two dice rolls would, or the probabilities of any other uncorrelated events.

1. Show that the entropy of the combined system \(S_{AB}\) is the sum of entropies of the two separate systems considered individually, i.e. \(S_{AB} = S_A+S_B\). This means that entropy is extensive. Use the Gibbs entropy for this computation. You need make no approximation in solving this problem.
2. Show that if you have \(N\) identical non-interacting systems, their total entropy is \(NS_1\) where \(S_1\) is the entropy of a single system.

Note

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Tetrahedron

Using a dot product, find the angle between any two line segments that join the center of a regular tetrahedron to its vertices. Hint: Think of the vertices of the tetrahedron as sitting at the vertices of a cube (at coordinates (0,0,0), (1,1,0), (1,0,1) and (0,1,1)---you may need to build a model and play with it to see how this works!)