Talk:Density of states

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Density of states

[edit] Too limited definition

I propose to start out with the more general definition of the density of states for a quantum system:

ν(E) =	∑	δ(E − En),
	n

where E_n are the energy levels (eigenvalues of the Hamiltonian) of the system. IMO this is much easier to understand, since the reader need only be familiar with the very basic properties of a quantum system.

Later in the article one can present the density of states for a crystalline system. Here one will need to introduce (or at least mention) reciprocal space and other topics that require familiarity with solid state physics. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Havard.haugen (talk • contribs) 10:02, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Connection to entropy

I have added a simple sentence stating the connection of the density of states to entropy. Maybe someone more familiar with the condensed matter point of view can expand this. Jorgenumata (talk) 19:59, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

It seems that this sentence didn't survive a large edit made recently. Any discussion of this topic is incomplete without discussing entropy (from my viewpoint entropy is the only reason to even talk about the density of states). Man It's So Loud In Here (talk) 19:32, 9 March 2008 (UTC)