Indistinguishability

Electrons are indistinguishable, they simply cannot be labelled. This means that an acceptable electronic wavefunction has to treat all electrons on an equal footing. Thus, although 1 have so far implied that electron 1 is to be associated with nucleus Ha, and electron 2 with nucleus Hb, 1 must also cater for the alternative description where electron 1 is associated with nucleus Hb and electron 2 with nucleus Ha. 1 therefore have to modify Table 4.1 to Table 4.2. 

The extra column allows for indistinguishability. Each entry in the table is a distinct quantum state, and the ground state of the molecule is described equally by the two quantum states lsA(ri)lSB(r2) and lsA(r2)lsB(ri), and each quantum state has the same eneigy. Any linear combination of these two quantum states also has the same energy, and so we ought to consider a linear combination 

Synunetry arguments tell us that we have to take a = b, so we write possible spatial wavefunetions as 

These combinations both allow for the indistinguishability of the two elee-trons. 

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In Fig. III-7 we show a molecular dynamics computation for the density profile and pressure difference P - p across the interface of an argonlike system [66] (see also Refs. 67, 68 and citations therein). Similar calculations have been made of 5 in Eq. III-20 [69, 70]. Monte Carlo calculations of the density profile of the vapor-liquid interface of magnesium how stratification penetrating about three atomic diameters into the liquid [71]. Experimental measurement of the transverse structure of the vapor-liquid interface of mercury and gallium showed structures that were indistinguishable from that of the bulk fluids [72, 73]. 

As a quite different and more fundamental approach, the isotherms of Fig. XI-10 allowed a calculation of X as a function of temperature. The plot of In K versus 1 /T gave an enthalpy quantity that should be just the difference between the heats of immersion of the Graphon in benzene and in n-heptane, or 2.6 x 10 cal/m [141]. The experimental heat of immersion difference is 2.4 x 10 cal/m, or probably indistinguishable. The... 

Equation XVI-21 provides for the general case of a molecule having n independent ways of rotation and a moment of inertia 7 that, for an asymmetric molecule, is the (geometric) mean of the principal moments. The quantity a is the symmetry number, or the number of indistinguishable positions into which the molecule can be turned by rotations. The rotational energy and entropy are [66,67]... 

Of these, A are indistinguishable since the molecules are not labeled, and the complete partition function for N molecules becomes... 

As pointed out in Section XVII-8, agreement of a theoretical isotherm equation with data at one temperature is a necessary but quite insufficient test of the validity of the premises on which it was derived. Quite differently based models may yield equations that are experimentally indistinguishable and even algebraically identical. In the multilayer region, it turns out that in a number of cases the isotherm shape is relatively independent of the nature of the solid and that any equation fitting it can be used to obtain essentially the same relative surface areas for different solids, so that consistency of surface area determination does not provide a sensitive criterion either. 

Since indistinguishability is a necessary property of exact wavefiinctions, it is reasonable to impose the same constraint on the approximate wavefiinctions ( ) fonned from products of single-particle solutions. Flowever, if two or more of the Xj the product are different, it is necessary to fonn linear combinations if the condition P. i = vj/ is to be met. An additional consequence of indistinguishability is that the h. operators corresponding to identical particles must also be identical and therefore have precisely the same eigenfiinctions. It should be noted that there is nothing mysterious about this perfectly reasonable restriction placed on the mathematical fonn of wavefiinctions. 

The tliree protons in PH are identical aud indistinguishable. Therefore the molecular Hamiltonian will conmuite with any operation that pemuites them, where such a pemiutation interchanges the space and spin coordinates of the protons. Although this is a rather obvious syimnetry, and a proof is hardly necessary, it can be proved by fomial algebra as done in chapter 6 of [1]. 

The simplest manifestation of nonlinear kinetics is the clock reaction—a reaction exliibiting an identifiable mduction period , during which the overall reaction rate (the rate of removal of reactants or production of final products) may be practically indistinguishable from zero, followed by a comparatively sharp reaction event during which reactants are converted more or less directly to the final products. A schematic evolution of the reactant, product and intenuediate species concentrations and of the reaction rate is represented in figure A3.14.2. Two typical mechanisms may operate to produce clock behaviour. 

A symmetry that holds for any system is the permutational symmetry of the polyelectronic wave function. Electrons are fermions and indistinguishable, and therefore the exchange of any two pairs must invert the phase of the wave function. This symmetry holds, of course, not only to pericyclic reactions. 

The total Hamiltonian operator H must commute with any pemiutations Px among identical particles (X) due to then indistinguishability. For example, for a system including three types of distinct identical particles (including electrons) like Li2 Li2 with a conformation, one must satisfy the following commutative laws ... 

Because of the quantum mechanical Uncertainty Principle, quantum m echanics methods treat electrons as indistinguishable particles, This leads to the Paiili Exclusion Pnn ciple, which states that the many-electron wave function—which depends on the coordinates of all the electrons—must change sign whenever two electrons interchange positions. That IS, the wave function must be antisymmetric with respect to pair-wise permutations of the electron coordinates. 

The approximations of Kehoe and Aria and of Hite and Jackson (denoted "high permeability" in the diagrams) are indistinguishable from the exact results, while the method of Apecetche et al. introduces substantial error. 

Ho these wavefunctions satisfy the indistinguishability criterion In other words, do we get... 

The canonical ensemble is the name given to an ensemble for constant temperature, number of particles and volume. For our purposes Jf can be considered the same as the total energy, (p r ), which equals the sum of the kinetic energy (jT(p )) of the system, which depends upon the momenta of the particles, and the potential energy (T (r )), which depends upon tlie positions. The factor N arises from the indistinguishability of the particles and the factor is required to ensure that the partition function is equal to the quantum mechanical result for a particle in a box. A short discussion of some of the key results of statistical mechanics is provided in Appendix 6.1 and further details can be found in standard textbooks. 

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