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Pauli Exclusion Principle

Pauli exclusion principle, assertion that no two electrons in an atom can be at the same time in
the same state or configuration, proposed (1925) by the Austrian physicist Wolfgang Pauli to
account for the observed patterns of light emission from atoms. The exclusion principle
subsequently has been generalized to include a whole class of particles of which the electron is
only one member.
Subatomic particles fall into two classes, based on their statistical behavior. Those particles to
which the Pauli exclusion principle applies are called fermions (particles with "half-
integer spin"); those that do not obey this principle are called bosons (particles with "integer
spin"). Actually, protons and neutrons obey the same principle, while photons do not.
Extensionally, fermions (Fermions take their name from the FermiDirac statistical
distribution that they obey, and bosons from their BoseEinstein distribution) include elementary
particles such as quarks (the constituent particles of protons and neutrons), electrons
and neutrinos. In addition, protons and neutrons (subatomic particles composed from three
quarks) and some atoms are fermions, and are therefore subject to the Pauli exclusion principle
as well. Atoms can have different overall "spin", which determines whether they are fermions or
bosons for example helium-3 has spin 1/2 and is therefore a fermion, in contrast to helium-
4 which has spin 0 and is a boson. As such, the Pauli exclusion principle underpins many
properties of everyday matter, from its large-scale stability, to the chemical behavior of atoms.
"Half-integer spin" means that the intrinsic angular momentum value of fermions is
(reduced Planck's constant) times a half-integer (1/2, 3/2, 5/2, etc.). In the theory of quantum
mechanics fermions are described byantisymmetric states. In contrast, particles with integer spin
(called bosons) have symmetric wave functions; unlike fermions they may share the same
quantum states. Bosons include the photon, the Cooper pairs which are responsible
for superconductivity, and the W and Z bosons.


Md. Mahabub Hossain
SI: 2013435034
Page: 1/3
Explanation:
The nature of the Pauli exclusion principle can be illustrated by supposing that electrons 1 and 2
are in states a and b respectively.
The wave function for the two electron system would be
=








But this wave function is unacceptable because the electrons are identical electrons are identical
and indistinguishable. To account for this we must use a linear combination of the two
possibilities since the determination of which electron is in which state is not possible to
determine.
The wave function for the state in which both states a and b are occupied by the electrons can
be written
=


= Probability amplitude that both states a and b are occupied by electrons 1 and 2 in
either order. (+) is required for bosons and (-) for fermions.

The Pauli Exclusion principle is part of one of our most basic observations of nature: particles of
half integer spin must have antisymmetric wave functions, and particles of integer spin must
have symmetric wave functions. The minus sign in the above relationship forces the wave


= Probability amplitude that electron 1 is
in state a.


= Probability amplitude that electron 2 is
in state b.
= Probability amplitude that electron 1 is in
state 1 AND electron 2 is in state b.



Fig:1, For fermions the negative
sign must be used, so that the
wave function goes to identically
zero if the states a and b
identical.
Md. Mahabub Hossain
SI: 2013435034
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function to vanish identically if both states are a or b, implying that it is impossible for both
electrons to occupy the same state.
Application:
The Pauli exclusion principle helps explain a wide variety of physical phenomena. One
particularly important consequence of the principle is the elaborate electron shell structure
of atoms and the way atoms share electrons, explaining the variety of chemical elements and
their chemical combinations. An electrically neutral atom contains bound electrons equal in
number to the protons in the nucleus. Electrons, being fermions, cannot occupy the same
quantum state as other electrons, so electrons have to "stack" within an atom, i.e. have different
spins while at the same electron orbital.
Many mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical and chemical properties of solids are the direct
consequence of Pauli exclusion. In conductors and semi-conductors, there are very large
numbers of molecular orbitals which effectively form a continuous band structure of energy
levels. In strong conductors (metals) electrons are so degenerate that they cannot even contribute
much to the thermal capacity of a metal. In the case of matter stability, it has been shown that the
Pauli exclusion principle is responsible for the fact that ordinary bulk matter is stable and
occupies volume. The electrons of each atom cannot all fall into the lowest-energy orbital and
must occupy successively larger shells. Atoms therefore occupy a volume and cannot be
squeezed too closely together
The Pauli principle also leads to stability in intense magnetic fields such as in neutron stars,
although at a much higher density than in ordinary matter. It is a consequence of general
relativity that, in sufficiently intense gravitational fields, matter collapses to form a black hole.
Reference
1. A. Izergin and V. Korepin, Letter in Mathematical Physics vol 6, p283, 1982.
2. E.H. Lieb, M. Loss and J.P. Solovej, Stability of Matter in Magnetic Fields Phys. Rev.
Letters, 75, 9859 (1995).
3. Massimi, Michela, Pauli's Exclusion Principle. Cambridge University Press (2005).
4. http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/
Md. Mahabub Hossain
SI: 2013435034
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