Put , , , and . The upper eigenvalue of the two coupled plane waves is
At fixed Fermi energy , its closed Fermi contour has
Thus can be inverted numerically to estimate the Bragg scattering coupling. The pocket disappears at . The estimate assumes a fixed chemical potential and neglects coupling to other plane waves; a measured pocket area alone does not determine all Fourier coefficients of an arbitrary lattice potential.
For positive gain and nonlinear-loss coefficients, a constant-density exciton-polariton condensate with physical velocity has . Its chemical potential obeys the displayed relation. For prescribed real , a real velocity requires . If chemical potential is determined by the solution, any real velocity is allowed. Linear density-phase perturbations in the comoving frame satisfy , where . Repulsive coupling has no growing modes in this simple model; attractive coupling has a long-wavelength instability even though the plane wave exists.
Uniform ring condensate 2026-10-20
A one-dimensional condensate on a ring of circumference has a uniform winding state when the order parameter is normalized to atom number. Its angular momentum per atom is , while the flow contribution to its total chemical potential is .
Van der Waals liquid-gas coexistence Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-10-18
Below , the equilibrium liquid and gas have the same temperature, pressure , and per-particle chemical potential. For macroscopic bulk thermodynamic phases, neglect interface contributions. The Maxwell equal-area construction determines and by
It expresses equality of chemical potentials, since at fixed temperature. Equivalently, the equilibrium Helmholtz free energy per particle follows a common tangent line between the two endpoint states, lying below the homogeneous continuation between them. The construction uses that mathematical continuation to compare endpoints; it is not a physical compression path through negative isothermal compressibility states.[ref]
Here is a reproducible calculated example at . With , the homogeneous intersections solve the cubic equation
The Maxwell construction gives
All three roots of a polynomial satisfy . Only the smallest and largest are the phase coexistence endpoints; the middle one has negative isothermal compressibility. Equal pressures at three admissible values of volume therefore do not imply three stable thermodynamic phases. An analytic area check is
At full numerical precision, the residual is below in reduced units; independent numerical integration gives the same cancellation. At , the spinodal points are instead and .
Figure 1. . The horizontal coordinate is reduced number density , not molar volume. The green region is equilibrium liquid–gas coexistence, bounded by the binodal. Hatching marks unstable homogeneous states, and the strips between solid and dashed boundaries mark homogeneous metastability. This is a model phase diagram, not measured data. Details.
The equilibrium plateau changes the phase fraction rather than the endpoint densities. For a gas particle fraction and mean particle volume , the lever rule reads
Thus at gives : this is a particle fraction, not the volume fraction occupied by gas. Differentiating equality of chemical potentials along this model's phase coexistence curve yields the same Clapeyron equation explained below, , with latent heat per particle. Both endpoint differences vanish as the Van der Waals critical point is approached; the equation's critical limit must be taken as a ratio.
The Maxwell construction presumes a pure bulk fluid at thermodynamic equilibrium. Its endpoint equality does not specify how rapidly a real compression reaches equilibrium. A homogeneous metastable sample can persist while nucleation is delayed; the spinodal marks loss of local mechanical stability in this mean-field theory, rather than the equilibrium onset of condensation. Surface tension, finite sample size and impurities can affect the observed transition. These qualifications matter when comparing a mathematical Van der Waals isotherm with a visible liquid meniscus.
Vaporization 2026-10-18
Vaporization changes a liquid into a gas. It includes evaporation at a surface and boiling within the liquid. Below the liquid-gas critical point, equilibrium conversion along the liquid-vapour phase coexistence curve involves latent heat; the liquid and vapour have equal chemical potential there.
Equating the site chemical potential with that of an internally structureless classical vapour gives . The coefficient includes the bound vibrational partition factor, the translational thermal de Broglie wavelength, and the positive binding Boltzmann factor. It has inverse-pressure units. Half coverage occurs at ; an unspecified prevents a numerical pressure scale, but not the functional isotherm.
A channel supporting ballistic electron transport carries incident populations set by different source and drain chemical potentials, rather than an everywhere-equilibrated local distribution with an Ohmic voltage gradient. Its electrostatic barrier responds self-consistently to contacts, gates and electrostatic screening. A symmetric rigid-barrier model places reservoir energies at relative to the barrier. Asymmetric partition or bias-dependent transmission changes the weights in the differential electrical conductance, and must be included when extracting an energy scale.
Water activity 2026-10-20
Water activity measures the chemical potential of water relative to a chosen pure-water standard state. Under ideal-vapour conditions above a flat solution, it is the equilibrium vapour pressure divided by that above pure liquid water at the same temperature. Dissolved solute usually lowers activity. Raoult's law gives the ideal dilute-solution limit; nonideal interactions require an activity model.
Water potential 2026-10-14
Water potential expresses the chemical potential of water relative to a stated pure-water reference in units of pressure. For a nearly incompressible liquid at fixed temperature, use a constant reference molar volume and write
The reference is pure water at the same temperature and a chosen pressure . Both sides must use the same reference. Neglecting height differences and interactions with solid surfaces, the approximation is
Here is the dimensionless thermodynamic activity of water, the molar gas constant, and the absolute temperature. The natural logarithm is therefore applied to a dimensionless quantity. The pressure contribution increases with pressure; the solute potential is negative when . Across an available passive water route, net water transfer favors higher to lower water potential. The familiar plant description adds effects of height and interactions with solid surfaces when they matter; they are omitted in the two liquid compartments here.[ref]
Adding solute and raising pressure can thus cancel in water potential while each contribution remains nonzero. Equality of water potential does not imply equality of pressure or of every solute concentration. In a supported plant cell, the cell wall permits a positive turgor pressure to balance a negative solute potential; plasmolysis illustrates the opposite loss of support after water leaves.
For one particle species in chemical equilibrium under , chemical balance gives , hence . Elastic imposes no such constraint. In an expanding universe the number-changing reaction must remain fast compared with the Hubble parameter; after chemical freeze-out a nonzero chemical potential can develop even if elastic collisions maintain kinetic equilibrium.