- #1
gareth
- 189
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Hi,
I understand that electrons in a solid (eg. metal), can be treated as Fermi gas obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics, which incorporates the exclusion principle. This differs from a normal gas because a regular (ideal) gas of atoms or molecules can have atoms occuppying exactly the same energy states, whereas with a Fermi gas this is not allowed...
OK, that's my basic understanding, now here's my question;
If the electrons were not in a solid, e.g. in a vacuum (plasma etc.) would they obey Fermi Dirac stats? Or would a regular Maxwell-Bolztmann treatment suffice?
In other words, when electrons are no longer associated in a common lattice, but in a free gas in vacuo, do they obey the exlusion principle, and hence have energy bands etc?
Thanks guys
Gareth
I understand that electrons in a solid (eg. metal), can be treated as Fermi gas obeying Fermi-Dirac statistics, which incorporates the exclusion principle. This differs from a normal gas because a regular (ideal) gas of atoms or molecules can have atoms occuppying exactly the same energy states, whereas with a Fermi gas this is not allowed...
OK, that's my basic understanding, now here's my question;
If the electrons were not in a solid, e.g. in a vacuum (plasma etc.) would they obey Fermi Dirac stats? Or would a regular Maxwell-Bolztmann treatment suffice?
In other words, when electrons are no longer associated in a common lattice, but in a free gas in vacuo, do they obey the exlusion principle, and hence have energy bands etc?
Thanks guys
Gareth