Statistical Mechanics: Solving for Average Energy of System

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the average energy of a system of N identical particles in a box of volume V using statistical mechanics. The Hamiltonian is defined as H_N = c ∑ |p_i|, where c is the speed of light. The partition function Z is derived as Z = V^N (∫ e^(-βc|p|) d^3p)^N, and the integral can be evaluated by transforming to spherical coordinates. The final integral simplifies to 4π ∫ r^2 e^(-βr) dr, which can be solved using standard techniques.

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  • Understanding of Hamiltonian mechanics
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  • Knowledge of spherical coordinate transformations
  • Basic integration techniques in calculus
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arnesmeets
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This shouldn't be too hard but I'm struggling.

Consider N identical particles in a box of volume V. The relation between their linear momentum and kinetic energy is given by [tex]E = c\left|\overrightarrow{p}\right|[/tex], where c is the speed of light. So, the Hamiltonian of the system is

[tex]H_N\left(\overrightarrow{q_1},\,\cdots,\overrightarrow{q_N},\overrightarrow{p_1},\,\cdots,\overrightarrow{p_N}\right) = c \sum_{i = 1}^N \left|p_i\right|[/tex]
Now, I'm trying to find the average energy of the system. So, I need to get Z:

[tex]Z = \int \exp\left(-\beta \cdot c \cdot \sum_i \left|p_i\right|\right) d\overrightarrow{q_1}\cdots d\overrightarrow{q_N} d\overrightarrow{p_1}\cdots d\overrightarrow{p_N} = V^{N} \cdot \left(\int \exp\left(-\beta \cdot c \cdot \left|\overrightarrow{p}\right|\right) d\overrightarrow{p}\right)^N[/tex]Now, I've got two questions:

1) Is there any mistake in the calculations for Z above?
2) How to evaluate the integral?? :blushing:
 
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Does nobody have a clue?:confused:
 
You can solve the integral quite easily by transforming to spherical coordinates (r,\theta, \phi). So the integral becomes:

[tex]\int_0^{2\pi} \int_0^{\pi} \int_0^{\infty} e^{-\beta r} r^2\sin{\theta} dr d\theta d\phi = 4\pi \int_0^{\infty} r^2 e^{-\beta r}dr[/tex]

I think you can now solve the rest on your own :smile:
 

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