Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Physics Department

Physics 8.044 Spring 2018

Statistical Physics I March 13, 2018

Quiz 1

Instructions
• You must attempt all problems
• Do all your work in the white exam booklets
• Do not use the front page of your exam booklet to answer questions
• Remember to write your name clearly on every exam booklet you use
• Do not use red ink
• No cell phones, computers, or calculators
• Note that there is an information sheet at the end of the exam
• The problem subsections have different point values as marked

Problem summary
• Problem 1 Tunneling probability
• Problem 2 Surfactants
• Problem 3 Density of states in a linear potential
• Problem 4 Stars

1
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 2

Problems

Problem 1. Tunneling probability [25 points]

An atom is held within a one-dimensional trap shown in the figure. Quantum mechanics, however,
allows the atom to tunnel through the wall of the trap and escape.
Each time that the atom encounters one of the walls of the trap it has a probability a (0 < a < 1)
of bouncing back and it has a probability 1 − a of tunneling through the wall and escaping. Let
pn (n = 0, 1, 2, ...) be the probability that the atom escapes from the trap after n bounces off the
walls.

(a) [5 points] What is the probability distribution, pn ? Make sure pn is properly normalized.
Answer:
P∞
pn = (1 − a)an and n=0 a
n = 1/(1 − a) so pn is normalized.

(b) [15 points] What is hni? What is var(n)?

Answer:

∞
X
hni = nan (1 − a)
n=0
∞
X
= (1 − a)a(d/da) an
n=0
= (1 − a)a(d/da)(1/(1 − a)) = a/(1 − a)

Answer:

∞
X
hn(n − 1)i = n(n − 1)an (1 − a)
n=0
= (1 − a)a2 (d2 /da2 )(1/1 − a)
= 2a2 /(1 − a)2
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 3

So hn2 i = 2a2 /(1 − a)2 + a/(1 − a). And

var(n) = hn2 i − hni2

= 2a2 /(1 − a)2 + a/(1 − a) − a2 /(1 − a)2
= a/(1 − a)2

(c) [5 points] Suppose that many atoms are held in the trap, each with a probability pn to escape
after n bounces. (Ignore their interactions with one another.) Suppose that the number of
bounces nj , j = 1, 2, ...N is observed for N different atoms that emerge from the trap. Let
n̄ = N1 N
P
j=1 nj .What is the limiting form of the probability distribution of n̄ when N  1 (in
terms of hni and var(n))? No computation is necessary.
Answer:
According to the central limit theorem this distribution approaches a Gaussian with mean

hn̄i = hni = a/(1 − a)

and variance
var(n̄) = (1/N ) var(n) = a/(N (1 − a)2 )
So r
2
 
N 2 (n̄ − a/(1 − a))
p(n̄) = (1 − a) exp −N (1 − a)
2πa 2a
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 4

Problem 2. Surfactants [25 points]

Surfactant molecules such as those in soap or shampoo prefer to spread on the air-water surface rather
than dissolve in water. The surfactant molecules spread over the surface of water and behave as a
two-dimensional gas.

(a) [5 points] The air-water surface tension σ0 (assumed to be temperature-independent) is reduced

roughly by N kB T /A, where N is the number of surfactant particles, and A is the area.

N
σ = σ0 − kB T
A
Explain this result qualitatively.

(b) [10 points] More careful observations show that at higher surfactant densities:

2a N 2
   
∂σ N kB T
= −
∂A T (A − N b)2 A A
 
∂T A − Nb
=−
∂σ A N kB

where a and b are constants. Obtain the expression for σ(A, T ) and explain qualitatively the
origin of the corrections described by a and b.

(c) [10 points] Find an expression for Cσ − CA in terms of the following (C is the heat capacity): σ,
∂σ ∂T ∂U




∂A T , ∂σ A and ∂A T .

Answer:

(a) The surfactants behave like a two-dimensional gas, with a “pressure” exerted on contact line.
Because this pressure pushes the contact line in the outwards direction, the contribution to
the surface tension is negative. The two dimensional analog of the ideal gas law P V = N kB T
is P l = N KAB T , so this “pressure” is proportional to both the density of surfactants and the
temperature.
∂σ


(b) Integrating ∂A T
with respect to A, we find
 2
N kB T N
σ(A, T ) = f (T ) − +a
A − Nb A
∂σ N kB


where f (T ) is determined by matching to the known ∂T A
= − A−N b . Differentiating our
N kB
σ(A, T ) with respect to T and setting equal to − A−N b , we find

N kB df N kB
− = − =⇒ f (T ) = C
A − Nb dT A − Nb
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 5

 2
N kB T N
=⇒ σ(A, T ) = C − +a
A − Nb A

Without any surfactant particles (N = 0), we know the surface tension is σ0 , which means that
C = σ0 .

 2
N kB T N
σ(A, T ) = σ0 − +a
A − Nb A

2
The correction a N A describes binary interactions between two surfactant particles. If these
interactions are attractive, then a > 0 (the surface tension increases), and if they are repulsive,
then a < 0. The correction N b (in which we replace A by A − N b) describes the excluded area
due to the finite size of surfactant molecules.

(c) From the 1st Law, we know

dQ = dU − σdA

The internal energy U is a function of both T and A, allowing us to write this as

     
∂U  ∂U  ∂U  ∂U 
dQ = dA + dT − σdA = − σ dA + dT
∂A T ∂T A ∂A T ∂T A

The specific heat at constant A

 
dQ  ∂U 
CA ≡ =
dT A ∂T A

while the specific heat at constant σ

     
dQ  ∂U  ∂A  ∂U 
Cσ ≡ = −σ +
dT σ ∂A T ∂T σ ∂T σ

resulting in
   
∂U  ∂A 
Cσ − CA = −σ
∂A T ∂T σ

To express this in terms of the known quantities, we can use the “triple product” rule:
  
∂A  ∂T  ∂σ 
= −1
∂T σ ∂σ A ∂A T

∂A  −1
=⇒ = ∂T  ∂σ 
 
∂T σ ∂σ A ∂A T
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 6

In conclusion, we have

∂U 

σ− ∂A T
Cσ − CA = ∂T  ∂σ 


∂σ A ∂A T
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 7

Problem 3. Density of states in a linear potential [25 points]

A particle of mass m is trapped in the region x ≥ 0 by the potential shown in the figure,

V (x) = λx for x ≥ 0

What is the number of states of this system with energy less than E, N (E) in the semi-classical
approximation? What is the density of states dN
dE ?
Answer:

Z ∞ Z ∞
1
N (E) = dx dp θ(E − λx − p2 /2m)
2π~ 0 −∞
Z ∞ Z ∞
1
=2 dp dx θ(E − λx − p2 /2m)
2π~ 0 0
Z ∞ Z (E−p2 /2m)/λ Z √2mE
1 1
= dp dx = dp (E − p2 /2m)2
π~ 0 0 π~λ 0
Z √2mE 
p2

1 2
= dp E −
π~λ 0 2m
2 1 √
= 2m E 3/2
3 π~λ
So √
dN 2mE
= .
dE πλ~
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 8

Problem 4. Stars [25 points]

Assume that the stars in a certain region of the galaxy are distributed at random with a mean density
ρ stars per (light year)3 .

(a) [10 points] What is the probability P0 (r) that there are no other stars within a sphere of radius
r about a given star?

The acceleration ~a of a given star due to the gravitational attraction of its neighbors is
∞
X GMi
~a = ~ri
|~ri |3
i=1

where ~ri is the vector position of the ith neighbor relative to the star in question and Mi is its mass.
The terms in the sum fall off rapidly with increasing distance. For some purposes the entire sum can
be approximated by its first term, that due to the nearest neighbor. In this approximation
GM
a ≡ |~a| =
r2
where r is the radial distance to the nearest neighbor and M is its mass.

(b) [10 points] Find an expression which relates p(a) to p(r). In what region of a would you expect
the greatest error due to the neglect of distant neighbors?

(c) [5 points] Use the results of part (a) to find p(a). In astrophysics, this is known as the Holtsmark
Distribution. It is known that the assumption of uniformly distributed stars breaks down at short
distances due to the occurrence of gravitationally bound complexes (binary stars, etc.). In which
region of a would you expect to see deviations from your calculated result due to this effect?

Answer:

(a) Because the stars are distributed at random with a constant density ρ, we can assume that the
number of stars in a volume V obey Poisson statistics.
n
The probability that there are n stars in
a volume V will be given by Pn (V ) = e−ρV (ρVn!) .
Substituting in n = 0 and V = 43 πr3 , we get the probability P0 (r) that there are no other stars
within a sphere of radius r:

 
4ρ
P0 (r) = exp − πr3
3

The probability P0 (r) can be interpreted as the probability that the nearest star is at least a
distance r away. We can differentiate this to get p(r), the probability density function for the
distance to the nearest star.
MIT 8.044 Statistical Physics I Spring 2018 9

 
4ρ 3
p(r) = exp − πr (4πr2 ρ)
3
That is, the probability p(r)dr that the distance to the nearest star is between r and r + dr
is just the product of the probability that there are no stars closer than a distance r, and the
probability that there is a star in a spherical shell with radius r and thickness dr.
(b) The relation between p(a) and p(r) is
 
 dr 
p(a) = p(r)  
da
with

da 2GM
=− 3
dr r
   3/2 √
 dr  1 GM GM
=⇒   = =
da 2GM a 2a3/2
q
We want to evaluate p(r) at r = GM a , so

√ r !
GM GM
p(a) = p
2a3/2 a

For distant neighbors, r → ∞, so a → 0. (Distant stars produce a small force, resulting in a

small acceleration.) So the greatest error due to neglect of distant neighbors is in the region of
small a.
(c) Now we’ll plug in our result from (a) for p(r) into our expression for p(a) found in (b).
 
4ρ 3
p(r) = exp − πr (4πr2 ρ)
3
! "  #
GM 3/2
r  
GM 4ρ 4πGM ρ
=⇒ p = exp − π
a 3 a a

So we have

 5/2
2πρ GM 3/2
p(a) = e−(4πρ/3)(GM/a)
GM a

Binary stars and other gravitationally bound complexes involve multiple stars at short distances
(r → 0), which involve large forces and accelerations. So we expect to see deviations at large a
as a result of these complexes.