1

Problem Set on Boltzmann transport etc. Problem set 01: EP426, 24 January,2014
1. The free electron density in Copper is n=8.510
28
m
3
and near room temperature the relaxation
time of most metals is of the order of 10
15
10
14
sec. From this data estimate the fractional
shift of the distribution on the scale of the Fermi wavevector (k
F
) for an electric eld of 10V/m,(
i.e. calculate k/k
F
).
2. Certain combinations of the Fermi function, occur very frequently in expressions that involve
scattering or transitions. It is useful to be familiar with the combination f
0
(1 f
0
)
Make a rough sketch of how f
0
(1 f
0
) would look as a function of energy. How does the area
under the curve of f
0
(1 f
0
) vary with temperature?
3. Suppose the electric eld has a time dependence E = E
0
e
it
. Show that the expression for the
conductivity (j
i
=
ij
E
j
) can be written as:

ij
() =
e
2
4
3

dE
f
0
E
(E)
1 i(E)

d
k
|k|
2
v
i
v
j
|v|
Here denotes solid angle in k space. Now if
ij
=
ij

0
, give a qualitative argument that it is
possible to write:

0
=

2
p

1 i
=
0

2
p
_

1 +
2

2
+ i

2

1 +
2

2
_
where
=

dE
f
0
E
(E)
and
p
=

ne
2
m
0
is the plasma frequency.
4. If E = Z AZ, then show that
Z =
E+AE+ (A.E)A
1 + A
2
Hint : Try AE and A.E
5. Consider a 2-dimensional phase space such that there is only one x & p variable. Show that the
area element xp will become x

after time t where

x

=
x
_
1 +
x
x
t
_
p
x
xt
x
p
pt p
_
1 +
p
p
t
_
(1)
Then show that if x and p are driven by a Hamiltonian such that x =
H
p
and p =
H
x
then
the rst order part (in t) of the expression will be zero.
2
6. Consider the equation relating the in-plane electric eld and current densities in presence of a
magnetic eld
_
E
x
E
y
_
=
_

0
B
0
nq

B
0
nq

0
_
_
j
x
j
y
_
(2)
Invert the matrix in the equation. Call this the conductivity matrix whose elements are
ij
.
What will be the value of
xx
if
xx
= 0, when no magnetic eld is present? How would your
answer be modied when a nite strong magnetic eld is present?
7. Work this problem step by step as suggested...
You are given a material in which the inverse eective mass tensor has elements:
1
M ij
=
1

2
E
k
i
k
j
(3)
An electric eld E and a magnetic eld B acts on it - as a result of which the entire electron
distribution moves in k space by an amount k =
q

Z. Show that the three vectors are related

by
E = Z qB
_
1
M
.Z
_
(4)
Now suppose B = (0, 0, B), solve for Z
x
, Z
y
in terms of E
x
, E
y
Show that
_
_
_
_
1 +
qB
M
xy
qB
M
yy

qB
M
yy
1
qB
M
xy
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
Z
x
Z
y
_
_
_
=
_
_
_
E
x
E
y
_
_
_
(5)
Invert the relation, under what circumstances can you get the following? Is is realistic?
_
_
_
Z
x
Z
y
_
_
_
=
_
_
_
_
1
qB
M
xy

qB
M
yy
qB
M
yy
1 +
qB
M
xy
_
_
_
_
_
_
_
E
x
E
y
_
_
_
(6)
Let us assume this condition is satised. Notice that the elements of the 2 2 matrix are not
necessarily independent of k, since the elements of the eective mass tensor can be functions of
k
x
, k
y
, k
z
. Now suppose we want to write an expression for the elements of the conductivity
tensor , such that
_
j
x
j
y
_
=
_

xx

xy

yx

yy
__
E
x
E
y
_
(7)
Show that we can write

xx
=
q
2

4
3

d
3
k
_

f
E
__
v
2
x
+ qB
_
v
x
v
y
M
xx

v
2
x
M
xy
__
(8)

xy
=
q
2

4
3

d
3
k
_

f
E
_
qB
_
v
x
v
y
M
xx

v
2
x
M
yy
_
(9)
Here the group velocities are denoted by v
x
=
1

E
k
x
and so on. When
xy
, the Hall conductivity
can turn negative? For simiplicity consider the T = 0 case. Convince yourself that the volume
integral will now become a surface integral. What will its value be if the Fermi sphere is small
and entirely contained in the rst Brillouin zone? When will the hall voltage become a measure
of the number of empty states in a Brillouin zone?
3
8. Take the moment of the BTE after multiplying with v. We need to work with

d
3
k
(2)
3
v
f
t
. .
LHS 1
+
q

d
3
k
(2)
3
v (E+v B) .
k
f
. .
LHS 2
+

d
3
k
(2)
3
vv.
r
f
. .
LHS 3
=

d
3
k
(2)
3
v
f f
0

(10)
Prove the following results. The algebra can be done using the - notation for handling indices
of vectors and tensors. The relation between velocity and the wavevector is mv = k qA
(a) LHS 1 : This gives

t
n(r)v
(b) LHS 2 : Notice the occurrence of the averaged velocity in the Lorentz term. The calculation
is somewhat non-trivial. Do it carefully! You should get
-
q
m
n(r) (E+ vB)
(c) LHS 3 : The diusion term requires averaging over the distribution. You should get

r
.n(r)v
i
v
j

For Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution v

i
v
j
=
kT
m

ij
(d) RHS : This gives the current term
n(r)
v

Adding all the results will give the drift diusion relation.
Prove the following results. The algebra can be done using the - notation for handling indices
of vectors and tensors. The relation between velocity and the wavevector is mv = k qA
(a) LHS 1 : This gives

t
n(r)v
(b) LHS 2 : Notice the occurrence of the averaged velocity in the Lorentz term. The calculation
is somewhat non-trivial. Do it carefully! You should get
-
q
m
n(r) (E+ vB)
(c) LHS 3 : The diusion term requires averaging over the distribution. You should get

r
.n(r)v
i
v
j

For Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution v

i
v
j
=
kT
m

ij
(d) RHS : This gives the current term
n(r)
v