Effective mass

hokhani

I have got confused about electron effective mass in crystals. Which of the definitions below are correct?

1) When an electron is in a crystal with periodic potential, it behaves such as a free electron with effective mass [itex]m^*[/itex]

2) when an external force is applied on the electron in a crystal, the electron behaves such as a free electron with effective mass [itex]m^*[/itex]

Simon Bridge

But these are pretty much identical statements - they are both sloppy statements of the same definition.
The first one fails to state what it means by "behavior" while the second implies F=ma ... the actual definition uses the quantum mechanical analogy to F=ma.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effecti...cs)#Definition