Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/ii/paper-2/34d/b/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 ii Paper 2 34D b i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-05
For noninteracting fermions, each single-particle level has occupation by the Pauli exclusion principle. A microstate has , , so its grand-canonical weight is the product of its independent level weights. The grand potential is ; the particle number, entropy and pressure follow from , and . This occupation description is the basis for the product, continuum and adiabatic calculations.
Summing separately over the two allowed occupations of every level givesThusThe factorization uses the absence of interactions; each level, including any degeneracy labels, is counted separately.
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