Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/iii/paper-81/4/b/solution

At , use fermionic Matsubara frequencies . The fermionic Gaussian integral has inverse propagator . With its thermal normalization, the determinant for one single-particle level is , as also follows from its empty and occupied states. Two spin species therefore give
The expression labeled Helmholtz free energy in the PDF is the grand potential, since the trace contains . The thermodynamic Helmholtz free energy at a prescribed electron number is , with fixed by . The Matsubara determinant requires a normalization prescription; a raw infinite sum of logarithms is not an ordinary convergent sum.

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