UP204: ASSIGNMENT NO.

6
Due: April 19, 2014
1. The interaction potential between two argon atoms may be approximated by
the Lennard-Jones form
v(r) = 4

" 
12

 6 #

with = 3.4
A and /kB = 120K. Using the approximations discussed in
class, find the values of the parameters a and b that appear in the van der
Waals equation of state for argon and hence, estimate the values of the critical
temperature and the critical pressure for argon.
2. Consider a sample of Argon gas at atmospheric pressure. The pair-potential
for Argon atoms is well-approximated by the Lennard-Jones form
v(r) = 4LJ

"

LJ
r

12

LJ

r


6 #

where LJ 1.671014 erg and LJ 3.4

A. Approximate the Lennard-Jones
potential by the following square-well form:
v(r) = if r < , = if r R, = 0 if r > R.
This potential provides a good approximation to the Lennard-Jones potential
for the choice = 0.56LJ , = LJ , R = 1.85.
The temperature of the gas is lowered keeping the pressure constant. Estimate
the temperature at which the interaction between Argon atoms leads to a 10%
correction to the ideal-gas equation of state. Compare this temperature with
the temperature at which Argon gas liquefies under atmospheric pressure.
3. As discussed in class, one can define a scalar effective mass, called the thermal
effective mass mT , for band electrons in the following way:
1
g(E) = 2 3 2E(mT )3/2 ,
h

where g(E) is the density of states. Obtain an expression for mT for a parabolic
band with dispersion
E(k) =

h
2 2
(k /mx + ky2 /my + kz2 /mz ).
2 x

4. Consider a linear monatomic chain with only nearest-neighbor interactions.

First, assume that the interaction between nearest neighbors is purely harmonic. The phonon dispersion relation for this system is given by
(k) = 0 | sin(ka/2)|,
where the constant 0 is the maximum frequency (this occurs for k on the
zone boundary) and a is the spacing between nearest neighbors.

(a) Calculate the phonon density of states g() for this system. In particular, show that g() has a singularity at = 0 . Find the form of this
singularity.
(b) Calculate the temperature-dependence of the phonon part of the specific
heat of this system at low temperatures.
5. For a harmonic solid, show that the quantity
Z

[CV () CV (T )]dT

where CV (T ) is the heat capacity at constant volume, and CV () = 3N kB is

the classical result for CV , is exactly equal to the total zero-point energy of
the solid. Interpret this result physically.