Einstein's formula for specific heat

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the derivation of Einstein's formula for specific heat, utilizing Planck's quantized energy assumption, E=nħω, and the energy probability function, P(E)= e^{-E/k_b T}. The user successfully calculates the total energy U=3N⟨E⟩ but encounters difficulty in transforming the expression into the form 3Nk_b T[ħω/k_b T/(e^{ħω/k_b T}-1)]. A suggestion is made to analyze the numerator and denominator as series, indicating a potential path to complete the derivation.

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Piano man
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I'm working through a derivation of Einstein's formula for specific heat and I'm stuck.

So far I've been working off Planck's assumption of quantised energy [tex]E=n\hbar\omega[/tex] and the energy probability [tex]P(E)= e^{\frac{-E}{k_b T}}[/tex], using the fact that the mean expectation energy is [tex]\langle E \rangle= \frac{\sum_n E P(E)}{\sum_n P(E)}[/tex] to get total energy [tex]U=3N\langle E \rangle=\frac{3N\sum_n n\hbar\omega e^{-n\hbar\omega/k_b T}}{\sum_n e^{-n\hbar\omega/k_b T}}[/tex]

The next step is where my problem is. The derivation I am studying says the above expression is equal to [tex]3Nk_b T\left[\frac{\hbar\omega/k_b T}{e^{\hbar\omega/k_bT}-1}\right][/tex], which when differentiated wrt T gives the Einstein formula, but I don't see how that step is made.

Any ideas?
Thanks.
 
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I haven't found how to derive the result from your way yet, but here is an idea:
The numerator is somewhat like [tex]A = e^{-1} + 2e^{-2} + ...[/tex] and the denominator is somewhat like [tex]B = 1 + e^{-1} + e^{-2} + ...[/tex]
Notice that: [tex]A = (B-1) + (B-1)e^{-1} + (B-1)e^{-2} + ...[/tex] and that B is a geometric series and easily computed.
 

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