ANISOTROPIC PRESSURE OF A QUANTUM GAS IN CONFINED SPACE

Abstract

In confined space, the thermodynamic potential is shape-dependent. Therefore, the pressure of ideal gases in confined space is anisotropic. We study this anisotropy in a thermodynamic manner and find that the thermodynamic pressures usually depend on the form of deformations, and hence are not equal to each other which is a natural representation of the anisotropic mechanical properties of a confined ideal gas. We also find that the boundary effects are much more significant than the statistical fluctuations under low-temperature and high-density conditions. Finally, we show that there is little difference between the boundary effects in 2D space and those in 3D space.