Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
As an example: the partition function for the isothermal-isobaric ensemble, the generalized Boltzmann distribution, divides up probabilities based on particle number, pressure, and temperature. The energy is replaced by the characteristic potential of that ensemble, the Gibbs Free Energy .
These three equations, along with the free energy in terms of the partition function, = , allow an efficient way of calculating thermodynamic variables of interest given the partition function and are often used in density of state calculations. One can also do Legendre transformations for different systems. For example, for a system with a ...
The partition function is commonly used as a probability-generating function for expectation values of various functions of the random variables. So, for example, taking β {\displaystyle \beta } as an adjustable parameter, then the derivative of log ( Z ( β ) ) {\displaystyle \log(Z(\beta ))} with respect to β {\displaystyle \beta }
This is almost the partition function for the -ensemble, but it has units of volume, an unavoidable consequence of taking the above sum over volumes into an integral. Restoring the constant C {\displaystyle C} yields the proper result for Δ ( N , P , T ) {\displaystyle \Delta (N,P,T)} .
The generalized version of the partition function provides the complete framework for working with ensemble averages in thermodynamics, information theory, statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. The microcanonical ensemble represents an isolated system in which energy (E), volume (V) and the number of particles (N) are all constant.
What has been presented above is essentially a derivation of the canonical partition function. As one can see by comparing the definitions, the Boltzmann sum over states is equal to the canonical partition function. Exactly the same approach can be used to derive Fermi–Dirac and Bose–Einstein statistics.
The equations below (in terms of free energy) may be restated in terms of the canonical partition function by simple mathematical manipulations. Historically, the canonical ensemble was first described by Boltzmann (who called it a holode ) in 1884 in a relatively unknown paper. [ 2 ]
Rotational energies are quantized. For a diatomic molecule like CO or HCl, or a linear polyatomic molecule like OCS in its ground vibrational state, the allowed rotational energies in the rigid rotor approximation are = = (+) = (+). J is the quantum number for total rotational angular momentum and takes all integer values starting at zero, i.e., =,,, …, = is the rotational constant, and is ...