Partition Function in Torres-Hernandez "Photon Mass" 1984

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The discussion centers on the partition function presented in Jose Torres-Hernandez's 1984 paper "Photon mass and blackbody radiation." The key point of confusion is the transition from summation to integration in the expression for lnZ, specifically regarding the role of the density of states n(ε) and the differential dn. Participants suggest that dn represents the number of modes within a specific energy range, allowing the summation to be approximated by an integral. Additionally, the use of lnZ is clarified as necessary for later calculations involving average energy through differentiation. Understanding these concepts is crucial for summarizing the paper effectively.
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in the paper written by Jose Torres-Hernandez in 1984 titled as : "Photon mass and blackbody radiation" in the first page he writes for the partition function:

lnZ=λ \sum_{normal modes} e^{-βε_l} = \frac{-λπ}{2} \int_{ε_0}^∞ n^2 ln(1-e^{-βε}) \frac{dn}{dε}dε

i really don't understand how he changes the summation to the integration here, and why the integration is not inside the ln .In 2 days i have to prepare a summary of this paper so any help is greatly appreciated.
 
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First of all, I would write "Z = ..." instead of "lnZ = ..." .
See the definition of the partition function.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partition_function_(statistical_mechanics )

The next step would be to find out what is the exact definition of n(ε) in the paper.
I guess dn represents the somehow number of modes in the range of energies dε .
This allows an approximation of the sum by an integral.

I do not have access to the original paper.
Therefore, I can't be more precise.
 
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first of all id like to thank you for taking time to answer my question. I have attached the 1st page of the original paper. well here we are dealing with lnZ since, later to find the average energy we have to take partial derivative of lnZ with respect to β.
 

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