Fermi gas

A system of identical fermions governed by Fermi–Dirac statistics. In the idealized model, particles do not interact, so their properties follow from quantum statistics and the available energy states.

Fermi–Dirac statistics: The quantum statistical distribution describing how identical fermions occupy available energy states. It determines the occupation of the gas's energy states.
Fermion: A particle with half-integer spin that obeys Fermi–Dirac statistics. The gas consists of particles from this quantum-statistical family.
Electron gas: A collection of electrons treated as mobile particles moving through a material or space. Conduction electrons are often approximated as a Fermi gas.
Bose gas: A system of identical bosons whose occupations follow Bose–Einstein statistics. Bosons can share a state, unlike the fermions in this gas.
Degenerate matter: Matter whose pressure and other properties are governed substantially by quantum state occupancy rather than heat. A strongly degenerate Fermi gas is a basic model of this matter.
Pauli exclusion principle: No two identical fermions can occupy the same quantum state simultaneously. It prevents fermions from piling into the lowest state.
Identical particles: Quantum particles of the same species that cannot be distinguished by intrinsic properties. Indistinguishability makes exchange symmetry part of the gas's description.
Drude model: A classical model that describes electrical conduction using mobile charge carriers and collisions. Its classical treatment contrasts with the quantum statistics needed for electrons.
Classical ideal gas: A dilute gas modeled with classical mechanics and Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics. It applies when quantum state occupancy becomes negligible.
Degeneracy pressure: Pressure caused by quantum restrictions on how identical particles can occupy states. It is the macroscopic consequence of fermion state exclusion.

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