Linear–quadratic GUP and thermodynamic dimensional reduction

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the statistical mechanics within the Linear–Quadratic GUP (LQGUP, i.e, GUP with linear and quadratic terms in momentum) models in the semiclassical regime. Then, some thermodynamic properties of a system of 3-dimensional harmonic oscillators are investigated by calculating the deformed partition functions. According to the equipartition theorem, we show that the number of accessible microstates decreases sharply in the very high temperatures regime. When the thermal de Broglie wavelength is of the order of the Planck length, three degrees of freedom are frozen in this setup. In other words, it is observed that there is an effective reduction of the degrees of freedom from 6 to 3 for a system of 3D harmonic oscillators in this framework. The calculations are carried out using both approximate analytical and exact numerical methods. The results of the analytical method are also presented in the form of thermal wavelengths for better understanding. Finally, the case of a 2-dimensional harmonic is treated as another example to comprehend the results, leading to a reduction of the degrees of freedom from 4 to 2.