Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-quantum-condensed-matter-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/section-b/5/b/solution

Let and be the carrier density and electronic heat capacity per unit volume. In isotropic kinetic theory, the angular average gives the electronic thermal conductivity
where is the mean free path associated with the heat-current relaxation time. With ,
The Drude model gives the electrical conductivity , where is the momentum relaxation time. Therefore
When the same approximately elastic collisions relax heat and charge currents, . Using gives the Wiedemann-Franz law
is the Lorenz number. Degenerate electrons move at the Fermi velocity, not the classical thermal velocity; using classical equipartition would give the wrong coefficient.

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