Fully polarized Fermi systems at finite temperature

Abstract

We propose a simple model of an interacting, fully spin--polarized Fermi gas in dimensions $d=2$ and $d=3$, and derive the approximate expression for the energy spectrum and the corresponding formula for the Helmholtz free energy. We analyze the thermodynamics of the system and find the lines of first--order phase transitions between the low and high density phases terminating at critical points. The properties of the corresponding phase diagrams are qualitatively different for $d=2$ and $3$, and sensitively depend on the interparticle attraction, which marks a departure from the standard van der Waals theory. The differences originate from the Pauli exclusion principle and are embeded in the fermionic nature of the system under study.