PHZ 5941

Condensed Matter I
Problem Set 1 Solution
1.1 Problem 1.1, A&M, Pg. 38.
The Drude model assumes the probability an electron suers a collision per unit time is
1/ where is the relaxation time. This means that during an innitesimal time interval
dt the probability that a collision occurs is dt/ and the probability that a collision doesnt
occur is 1 dt/.
(a) To determine the probability that an electron picked at random did not suer any
collisions during the preceding t seconds we can divide the time interval t into N smaller
intervals t = t/N. For small t the probability of no collision during the preceding t
seconds is then simply the product of the probabilities that no collision occurred during
each of these t intervals,
p(t)

1
t

N
. (1)
This can then be made exact by taking the N limit, with the result
p(t) = lim
N

1
t
N

N
= e
t/
. (2)
This exponential distribution is characteristic of a Poisson process.
(b) To determine the probability that the time interval between two successive collisions of a
given electron is between t and t+dt we again divide the time interval from the rst collision
(which we can take to be at time t = 0) to time t into N smaller intervals of t = t/N. The
probability of no collision occurring from time 0 to time t and then a collision occurring in
the next time interval dt is thus
lim
N

1
t
N

N
dt
t
= e
t/tau
dt

. (3)
(c) From (a) we know that if an electron is picked at random then the mean time back to
the last collision (or up to the next collision) is
t) =

0
te
t/
dt

= . (4)
(d) Likewise, from (b) we know that the mean time between collisions is given by the same
integral,

0
te
t/
dt

= . (5)
(e) The results of (c) and (d) appear to pose a paradox. From (c) it follows that if we choose
an electron at random and ask what the mean time interval is between the last collision the
electron suered and the next collision it will suer, the answer is 2. But from (d) we see
that the mean time between collisions is not 2 but .
The resolution of this paradox can most easily be seen by considering the time line of
a single electron, shown below (Xs mark collisions).
Collisions
t
a
b
From this gure it should be clear that if we pick a particular point in time at random, we
are more likely to choose it to be between two collisions which are separated by a large time
interval (e.g. point a) than one between two collisions separated by a small time interval
(e.g. point b). This will bias the average time interval between collisions to be larger than
. It is therefore not surprising that when an electron is chosen at random the mean time
between the last collision and the next collision for that electron is 2 and not .
We can see this more concretely if we compute the probability distribution for T, the time
between the between the next and last collisions averaged over all electrons. This probability
can be written as a convolution of p(t) = e
t/
,
P(T)dT =

T
0
p(t
1
)
dt
1

p(T t
1
)
dT

=
T

2
e
T/
dT. (6)
For this distribution we indeed nd that
T) =

0
T
T

2
e
T/
dT = 2. (7)
1.2 Problem 1.2, A&M, Pg. 41
(a) Immediately after a collision the energy of an electron is
c
i
=
1
2
mv
2
, (8)
2
where v is a random velocity vector (drawn from the appropriate thermal distribution).
After a time t during which the electron is under the inuence of a force

F = e

E, and
if there are no collisions, the energy of this electron is
c
f
=
1
2
m

v
e

E
m
t

2
. (9)
The average energy gained by an electron after time t is then
c =

1
2
m

v
e

E
m
t

1
2
mv
2

1
2
m

Et
m
v +
(eEt)
2
m
2

=
1
2
e
2
E
2
m
t
2
, (10)
where we have used the fact that v) = 0.
It follows that the average energy lost to the ions by an electron after a collision at time
t is
c =
1
2
e
2
E
2
m
t
2
. (11)
(b) If we now average over all time intervals between collisions, t, we nd that the average
energy lost to the ions per electron per collision is
c) =

0
e
t/
dt

1
2
(eE)
2
m
t
2
=
e
2
E
2
t
2
m
. (12)
Let p be the energy dissipated per unit volume per unit time. To nd p we need only
multiply c by the number density of electrons n and divide by the mean time between
collisions . The result is
p =
c)n

=
ne
2

m
E
2
= E
2
. (13)
It then follows that the total power dissipated by a wire of length L and cross sectional
area A (and hence volume LA) is
P = LAp = LAE
2
=
LA

(E)
2
=
L
A
(Aj)
2
=
L
A
(Aj)
2
= RI
2
, (14)
where we have used the fact that j = E, I = Aj and R = L/A = L/(A).
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1.3 Problem 1.4, A&M Pg. 26
(a) The equation of motion for the average momentum of the electrons in the presence of
uniform

E and

B elds is

p =
1

p e

E +
p
mc


B

. (15)
Here we consider the case of constant

B = B z and a circularly polarized AC

E,

= E

()( x i y)e
it
. (16)
Since (15) is linear, we expect the solution to have the form
p

= p

()( x i y)e
it
. (17)
Note that from (17) it can readily be shown that
p

z = i p

. (18)
Plugging everything into (15) then yields
ip

() =
1

() e

() i
B
mc
p

()

. (19)
Solving for p

we then nd
p

() =
eE

()
i i
c
+ 1/
, (20)
where
c
= eB/mc is the cyclotron frequency. Recall that the current density is given by

j = nev =
ne
m
p, (21)
and so, for the present problem, we can dene

= j

()( x y)e
it
, (22)
with j

() = (ne/m)p

. Thus we have the desired result

j

() =
ne
2
/m
1 i(
c
)
E

(). (23)
(b) We now consider the case

= E

( x i y)e
i(kzt)
(24)
4
and

= j

( x i y)e
i(kzt)
. (25)
Even though the elds are no longer uniform, provided kl 1, where l is the mean free
path, the local conductivity relation (23) should still be valid.
We derive the wave equation in the usual way, rst taking the curl of Faradays law

E) =
1
c

B. (26)
Then, using the fact for the present case

E is transverse (so

(

E) =
2
E) and
using Amperes law to eliminate

B, we have

E =
1
c
2

E
t
2

4
c
2

j
t
. (27)
Plugging in our Ansatz for

E

and using the Drude result (23) for

j

we obtain
k
2
E

() =

2
c
2

()E

(), (28)
where

() = 1 +
4i

ne
2
/m
1 i(
c
)
(29)
is the complex dielectric function, which can also be written

() = 1

2
p

1

c
+ i/
, (30)
where

p
=

4ne
2
m

1/2
(31)
is the plasma frequency.
The condition for propagating solutions to Maxwells equations is then that there exist
solutions to the equation
k
2
c
2
=

()
2
(32)
for which k is real (and hence

must be positive).
(c) For circularly polarized light with positive chirality (E
+
) the dielectric function is

+
() = 1

2
p

1

c
+ i/
(33)
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If we assume that
p

c
, and
c
1, then we see for >
p

+
() 1

2
p

2
(34)
and so propagating solutions exist (as is the case for B = 0).
For <
c
the dielectric function
+
again becomes positive and real (once [
c
[ 1/,
and so propagating solutions exist for this frequency range as well.
(d) In the limit
c
(and assuming
c
1 and
p

c
) we are justied in making
the approximation

+
()

2
p

c
(35)
for which we have propagating solutions whose dispersion is determined by the equation
k
2
c
2
=
2

+
()

2
p

c
, (36)
which yields the desired result
=
c

k
2
c
2

2
p

. (37)
For B = 10kG the cyclotron frequency is
c
1.8 10
1
1s
1
(see Eq. 1.22 in A& M). A
typical value for the plasma frequency in metals is
p
10
17
s
1
(see Eq. 1.40). Thus, for
k 2cm
1
we have
0.7 s
1
. (38)
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