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Physics 7440, Solutions to Problem Set # 8

1. Ashcroft & Mermin 12.2

For both parts of this problem, the constant offset of the energy, and also the location of the minimum at k0 ,
have no effect. Therefore we work with the simpler form for the energy

~2
ǫ(k) = ki Mij−1 kj . (1)
2
(a) For simplicity of notation, we define the matrix W by Wij = Mij−1 . (So, then, M = W −1 .) W and M are
both real, symmetric matrices. Moreover they are positive definite (since otherwise k = 0 would not be
a minimum), which implies among other things that both the determinant and the diagonal elements are
positive. In general we have
 
Wxx Wxy Wxz
W =  Wxy Wyy Wyz  . (2)
Wxz Wyz Wzz

The z-axis is the axis along which we apply the magnetic field and is fixed. However, we can choose the x
and y axes any way we like (so long as they are perpendicular to the z axis), and it is possible to choose
them so that Wxy = 0. (This is because choosing the x and y axes this way corresponds to making an
orthogonal transformation to diagonalize the upper-left 2 × 2 block of W , which we can certainly do.) So
with this choice of axes we have a somewhat simpler form
 
Wxx 0 Wxz
W =  0 Wyy Wyz  . (3)
Wxz Wyz Wzz

To proceed, we note that the electron orbits for a magnetic field along the z-direction are given by the
intersection of constant energy surfaces with surfaces of constant kz . We will show that such orbits form
ellipses, find their area as a function of energy ǫ and kz , and use this to get the cyclotron effective mass.
The surface of constant energy ǫ is specified by the equation

~2 
Wxx kx2 + Wyy ky2 + Wzz kz2 + 2Wxz kz kx + 2Wyz kz ky .

ǫ = ǫ(k) = (4)
2
If we also treat kz as a constant here, then the resulting equation for kx and ky specifies the orbit at kz
with energy ǫ. We rewrite this as follows:
2ǫ
− Wzz kz2 = Wxx kx2 + Wyy ky2 + 2Wxz kz kx + 2Wyz kz ky . (5)
~2
By completing the square twice on the right-hand side, we have
2 2 2 2
2ǫ 2
 Wxz kz 2  Wyz kz 2 Wxz kz Wyz kz
2
− Wzz kz = Wxx kx + + Wyy ky + − − . (6)
~ Wxx Wyy Wxx Wyy

Rearranging terms, we have

h 2 2 2 2
2ǫ 2 Wxz kz
Wyz kz i  Wxz kz 2  Wyz kz 2
+ kz + − Wzz = Wxx kx + + Wyy ky + . (7)
~2 Wxx Wyy Wxx Wyy

Now, we recognize this as the equation specifying an ellipse for the variables kx and ky . We are only
interested in the area of this ellipse, so we can drop the constant terms inside the parentheses on the
right-hand side, since these just shift the center of the ellipse. So we work with the equation
h W 2 k2 2 2
2ǫ xz z Wyz kz i
2
+ kz2 + − Wzz = Wxx kx2 + Wyy ky2 . (8)
~ Wxx Wyy
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If, by diving out by the left-hand side, we put this equation into the form
1 = kx2 /a2 + ky2 /b2 , (9)
then the area of the ellipse is A(ǫ, kz ) = πab. After some algebra we find
 2 2 2 2
π h 2ǫ
2 Wxz kz
Wyz kz i
A(ǫ, kz ) = p + kz + − Wzz . (10)
Wxx Wyy ~2 Wxx Wyy
Using this, and Ashcroft & Mermin Eq. (12.44), we get the simple result
~2 ∂A 1
m∗ = = p . (11)
2π ∂ǫ Wxx Wyy
Now we just have to express this in the desired form. Using standard formulas for the inverse of a 3 × 3
matrix, and applying them to W , we have
−1 Wxx Wyy
Mzz = Wzz = = Wxx Wyy det M , (12)
det W
so that
Mzz
Wxx Wyy = , (13)
det M
and therefore
r
det M
m∗ = . (14)
Mzz
(b) The specific heat depends on the band structure only through the density of states at the Fermi energy,
according to
π2 2
cv = k T D(ǫF ). (15)
3 B
We need to calculate D(ǫF ) for the given dispersion. To simplify the calculation, we are free to choose axes
to that M , and hence M −1 is diagonal, and
~2 X ki2
ǫ(k) = . (16)
2 i=x,y,z mi

The density of states is

d3 k 
Z X
2
ki2 /mi

D(ǫ) = δ ǫ − (~ /2) (17)
4π 3 i
Z 3
√ d q 
δ ǫ − (~2 /2)q 2

= mx my mz 3
(18)
4π
√ Z 3
d q 
δ ǫ − (~2 /2)q 2 .

= det M 3
(19)
4π
√
In the second line above, we have changed variables to qi = ki / mi . The q-integral above is exactly
D(ǫF ) as evaluated for free electrons in Ashcroft & Mermin chapter 2, with the mass set to unity (m → 1).
Therefore looking at A & M Eq. (2.61), we have
r
√ 1 2ǫF
D(ǫF ) = det M 2 2 . (20)
~ π ~2
We want to write this in the form
r
m∗ 2m∗ ǫF
D(ǫF ) = 2 2 , (21)
~ π ~2
where m∗ is the specific heat effective mass. Equating the above two equations, we see that
m∗ = (det M )1/3 . (22)
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2. Ashcroft & Mermin 12.4

(a) We imagine applying an electric field E, which is felt in the same way by every band. Therefore the current
density of the nth band is

jn = ρ−1 · E. (23)

The total current density is then

X hX i
j= jn = (ρ−1
n ) E. (24)
n n

Then we have for the electric field in terms of the current density:
hX i−1
E= (ρ−1
n ) ·j (25)
n

Since by definition E = ρ · j, we have the desired result,

hX i−1
ρ= (ρ−1
n ) . (26)
n

(b) In this case

 
ρ1 −R1 H
ρ1 = , (27)
R1 H ρ1

and similarly for ρ2 . We have

 
1 ρ1 R1 H
ρ−1
1 = 2 , (28)
ρ1 + R12 H 2 −R1 H ρ1

and
 
1 ρ2 R2 H
ρ−1
2 = 2 . (29)
ρ2 + R22 H 2 −R2 H ρ2

Adding these and taking the inverse, we have after some algebra
ρ = [ρ1−1 + ρ−1
2 ]
−1
(30)
 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

1 ρ1 (ρ2 + R2 H ) + ρ2 (ρ1 + R1 H ) −R1 H(ρ2 + R2 H ) − R2 H(ρ1 + R1 H )
=
(ρ1 + ρ2 )2 + H 2 (R1 + R2 )2 R1 H(ρ22 + R22 H 2 ) + R2 H(ρ21 + R12 H 2 ) ρ1 (ρ22 + R22 H 2 ) + ρ2 (ρ21 + R12 H 2 )
Writing this as
 
ρ −RH
ρ= , (31)
RH ρ

we have the desired results:

ρ1 ρ2 (ρ1 + ρ2 ) + (ρ1 R22 + ρ2 R12 )H 2
ρ= , (32)
(ρ1 + ρ2 )2 + H 2 (R1 + R2 )2

and
R1 ρ22 + R2 ρ21 + R1 R2 (R1 + R2 )H 2
R= (33)
(ρ1 + ρ2 )2 + H 2 (R1 + R2 )2

(c) For simplicity, assume band 1 is an electron band (all occupied orbits closed), and band 2 is a hole band
(all empty orbits closed). Band 1 has a density ne of electrons and band 2 a density nh of holes. We focus
on this case because it allows us to consider the case of a compensated metal (nef f = ne − nh = 0). We
could easily repeat the analysis for 2 electron bands and 2 hole bands.
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In the high field limit, R1 = −1/ne ec, and R2 = 1/nhec. Therefore, in the high field limit,
1 1 1  1 ne − nh 1 neff
R1 + R2 = − + = = . (34)
ec ne nh ec ne nh ec ne nh
Because this is nonzero, only the terms proportional to H 2 in the numerator and denominator of R will
contribute in the high-field limit, and we have
R1 R2
R∼ (35)
R1 + R2
1 1 ec ne nh 1
=− =− . (36)
ne ec nh ec neff neff ec
Now we consider the case of a compensated metal (neff = 0), and work out the high-field behavior of both
ρ and R. Now R1 + R2 = 0, so the Hall coefficient is field-independent:
R1 ρ22 + R2 ρ21
R= . (37)
(ρ1 + ρ2 )2
Notice that this can no longer be simply related to the densities in the two bands. Indeed, even the sign of
R is completely determined by which of ρ1 and ρ2 is larger, which has nothing to do with carrier densities.
As for the resistivity, the H 2 -term in the denominator drops out because R1 + R2 = 0, but this is not the
case for the term in the numerator. The H 2 -term in the numerator then dominates in the large-field limit,
and we have
(ρ1 R22 + ρ2 R12 )H 2
ρ∼ , (38)
(ρ1 + ρ2 )2
which increases proportional to H 2 for large fields.
3. Ashcroft & Mermin 12.6
Let TR be the operator that translates a wavefunction by the Bravais lattice vector R. Acting on a general
−1
wavefunction φ(r), we have TR φ(r) = φ(r+R). Moreover, on the position operator r̂, we have TR r̂TR = r̂+R.
The latter statement can be verified by considering
TR r̂φ(r) = TR [rφ(r)] = (r + R)φ(r + R). (39)
However, we can also calculate this by writing
−1 −1
TR r̂φ(r) = [TR r̂TR ]TR φ(r) = [TR r̂TR ]φ(r + R). (40)
−1
The two expressions are only consistent provided TR r̂TR = r̂ + R.
Now let’s consider the problem at hand. We’re told that ψ(r, 0) is a linear combination of Bloch wavefunctions,
all with the same crystal momentum k. This means that
TR ψ(r, 0) = eik·R ψ(r, 0). (41)
We want to show that
′
TR ψ(r, t) = eik ·R ψ(r, t), (42)
where k′ = k − eEt/~. This is what we want to show, because this statement is true if and only if ψ(r, t) is a
linear combination of Bloch wavefunctions, all with crystal momentum k′ .
To show this consider the following expression:

TR ψ(r, t) = TR e−iĤt/~ ψ(r, 0) = [TR e−iĤt/~ TR

−1
]TR ψ(r, 0) = eik·R [TR e−iĤt/~ TR
−1
]ψ(r, 0). (43)
We need to compute the term in square brackets. First, note that

−1 ~2 2
TR ĤTR =− ∇ + U (r̂ + R) + eE · (r̂ + R) (44)
2m
~2 2
=− ∇ + U (r̂) + eE · r̂ + eE · R (45)
2m
= Ĥ + eE · R. (46)
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(In the second line we used the fact that U (r) is a periodic potential.) Next, I claim that, for any operator Â,
 
TR e TR
−1
= exp [TR ÂTR −1
] . (47)

This can be proved by using the Taylor expansion of the matrix exponential:
∞
hX 1 n i −1
TR e TR
−1
= TR Â TR (48)
n=0
n!
∞
X 1
= TR Ân TR
−1
(49)
n=0
n!
∞
X 1 −1 n
= [TR ÂTR ] (50)
n=0
n!
 
−1
= exp TR ÂTR . (51)

The crucial step is the 2nd to last line. It is easiest to illustrate by considering a particular term, for example

TR Â2 TR
−1 −1
= TR ÂTR −1
TR ÂTR −1 2
= [TR ÂTR ] . (52)

Combining these results, we have

TR e−iĤt/~ TR
−1
= e−iĤt/~−ietE·R/~ = e−ietE·R/~ e−iĤt/~ . (53)

Going back to Eq. (43), we have

′
TR ψ(r, t) = eik·R e−ietE·R/~ e−iĤt/~ ψ(r, 0) = eik ·R ψ(r, t), (54)

as desired.