Library > Science & Technology > Physical Science

Degenerate Electron Gases in Metals and in White Dwarf Stars

1999
Our Entry is separated in three parts: the semiclassical theory of the electron gas, the quantum theory of the electron gas and the electron gas in white dwarfs. In many textbooks,the readers learn Bohr's theory before they get to quantum mechanics. But in our entry we give an introduction to quantum mechanics via the theory of a free electron which is much easier than Bohr's theory. The first part is devoted for the younger people who know not much about quantum mechanics and college mathematics. The reader learns two fundamental principles of quantum physics and uses them for a free electron and later for an electron gas. In the second part the reader needs knowledge about differential equations for understanding the solution of the Schroedinger equation. From this solution the reader learns how to calculate the energy of the electron and the electron gas. In the third part we use the quantum theory of a white dwarf, which is very difficult, because we must take into account the gravitation: We acompare the gravitation energy with the energy of the electron gas, and we calculate the radius of the white dwarf for witch the energy is total minimal.