Distribution Functions of a Hard-Sphere Fermi Gas

Abstract

The singlet and pair distribution functions of a Fermi gas are evaluated for low temperatures. It is assumed that the particles interact with a hard-sphere potential and have an arbitrary spin, and the evaluation is made to first order in the hard-sphere diameter. The binary-kernel method developed by Siegert, Lee, and Yang is used and the cluster-expansion theory given recently by Isihara and Yee for the distribution functions is applied. The pair distribution function is determined by a dimensionless variable $\frac{r}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}$, with $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ being the thermal de Broglie wavelength. Thus, changing the distance corresponds to varying the temperature. Moreover, the pair distribution function depends on the density. Therefore, its asymptotic expression for $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ depends on the ways to approach the limit. If we keep the density finite and reduce the temperature, the gas will be degenerate when $\ensuremath{\lambda}$ is of order of ${n}^{\ensuremath{-}\frac{1}{3}}$, where $n$ is the number density. The pair distribution function for this case is an oscillating function of the Fermi momentum. On the other hand, if we reduce the density first and then decrease the temperature, the pair distribution function decays as ${r}^{\ensuremath{-}4}$, and the free-particle diagrams give a contribution of the same decay.