Past exam of the physics A course of the University of Cambridge / 2011 / Paper 1 / Section C / C11 / Solution

For the electronic and lattice heat-capacity crossover in a monovalent metal, to obtain a numerical estimate from $E_F$ alone, assume monovalent potassium is a three-dimensional free electron gas with a parabolic band. Including both spins, the molar density of states is $g(E_F)=3N_A/(2E_F)$. Using the supplied approximate coefficient $3$, rather than silently replacing it by ${\pi }^2/3$, givesEquating it to the stated low-temperature Debye heat capacity yields the nonzero crossoverWe used $k_B=8.61733\times 10^{-5}\mathrm{eV}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ and $E_F=2\mathrm{eV}$. This is self-consistently far below ${\theta }_D=100\mathrm{K}$ and the Fermi temperature. Using the exact Sommerfeld coefficient instead gives $0.954\mathrm{K}$; that is a change of approximation, not a discrepancy in the algebra. Without a band/DOS assumption, the supplied Fermi energy does not by itself determine $g(E_F)$.