Statistical mechanics and thermodynamic limit of self-gravitating fermions in D dimensions

Abstract

We discuss the statistical mechanics of a system of self-gravitating fermions in a space of dimension $D$. We plot the caloric curves of the self-gravitating Fermi gas giving the temperature as a function of energy and investigate the nature of phase transitions as a function of the dimension of space. We consider stable states (global entropy maxima) as well as metastable states (local entropy maxima). We show that for $D\ge 4$, there exists a critical temperature (for sufficiently large systems) and a critical energy below which the system cannot be found in statistical equilibrium. Therefore, for $D\ge 4$, quantum mechanics cannot stabilize matter against gravitational collapse. This is similar to a result found by Ehrenfest (1917) at the atomic level for Coulombian forces. This makes the dimension D=3 of our universe very particular with possible implications regarding the anthropic principle. Our study enters in a long tradition of scientific and philosophical papers who studied how the dimension of space affects the laws of physics.