Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-condensed-matter-physics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/1/d/solution
Past exam of the condensed matter physics course of the University of Oxford 2015 1 d Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
The conventional face-centered cubic lattice cell contains four atoms, soThe preceding free-electron and Debye expressions giveAt low temperature the electronic and lattice heat-capacity crossover in a monovalent metal is found fromThus the electronic term dominates for K within the normal-metal model. Both low-temperature approximations are well controlled at that crossover. At exactly zero temperature both heat capacities vanish; below sufficiently small finite-size energy scales a continuum model also needs revision.
Room temperature is not : using the cubic formula at 300 K would incorrectly predict , far above the harmonic high-temperature limit . Instead use the Dulong-Petit law as an estimate:Keeping the finite cutoff in the Debye heat capacity givesAt 300 K this is , whereas , giving . Either appropriate room-temperature estimate shows that the lattice contribution dominates. The electronic approximation remains excellent because .
Electronic and full Debye lattice heat capacities of the stated copper model, with the low-temperature crossover and room temperature marked
. Details. New to topics? Read the docs here!
