Editing Debye model (section)

{{short description|Method in physics}}
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[[File:Debye100.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Peter Debye]]]]
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[[File:Reduced specific heat for KCl, TiO2, graphite 01.png|thumb|Reduced specific heat for [[Potassium chloride|KCl]], [[Titanium dioxide|TiO2]], and [[graphite]], compared with the Debye theory based on elastic measurements (solid lines)<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.osti.gov/biblio/4410557 |title=Lattice vibrations in noncrystalline solids |last1=Pohl |first1=R. O. |last2=Love |first2=W. F. |date=1973-08-01 |publisher=Cornell Univ., Ithaca, N.Y. (USA). Lab. of Atomic and Solid State Physics |issue=COO-3151-28 |language=English |last3=Stephens |first3=R. B.|osti=4410557 }}</ref>]]
In [[thermodynamics]] and [[solid-state physics]], the '''Debye model''' is a method developed by [[Peter Debye]] in 1912 to estimate [[phonon]] contribution to the [[specific heat]] ([[heat capacity]]) in a [[solid]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Peter |last=Debye |title=Zur Theorie der spezifischen Waerme  |language=de|journal=[[Annalen der Physik]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=789–839 |year=1912 |doi= 10.1002/andp.19123441404 |bibcode = 1912AnP...344..789D |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1424256 }}</ref> It treats the [[oscillation|vibration]]s of the [[Crystal structure#Classification|atomic lattice]] (heat) as [[phonon]]s in a box in contrast to the [[Einstein solid|Einstein photoelectron model]], which treats the solid as many individual, non-interacting [[quantum harmonic oscillator]]s. The Debye model correctly predicts the low-temperature dependence of the heat capacity of solids, which is proportional to the cube of temperature – the '''Debye ''T''<sup> 3</sup> law'''. Similarly to the Einstein photoelectron model, it recovers the [[Dulong–Petit law]] at high temperatures. Due to simplifying assumptions, its accuracy suffers at intermediate temperatures.{{Clarify|reason=Define or wikilink "intermediate"|date=January 2024}}