The relative population of the state of a two-level system, non-degene...
Explanation:
- A two-level system is a system that has only two possible energy states, such as a spin-up or spin-down electron, or an excited or ground state of an atom.
- If the two levels are non-degenerate, it means that they have different energy levels, but there is no additional degeneracy within each level.
- If the two levels are non-degenerate and separated by a finite energy gap, the population of the upper level will be less than that of the lower level at any finite temperature. However, if the temperature is increased to infinity, the population of the two levels will approach each other.
- If the two levels are non-degenerate to triply degenerate, it means that one of the levels has three possible states with the same energy, while the other level has only one state. This can occur, for example, when a spin-1/2 particle interacts with a magnetic field, resulting in three possible spin states in the higher energy level and one spin state in the lower level.
- At infinite temperature, all energy levels are equally accessible, regardless of their energy. Therefore, the relative population of the two levels will depend only on their degeneracy.
- In the case of a non-degenerate to triply degenerate system at infinite temperature, the upper level will be more populated than the lower level because it has three possible states compared to the lower level's one state.
Therefore, the correct answer is option 'A' - the upper level is more populated.