We analyze the one-dimensional Dirac oscillator in a thermal bath. We found that the heat capacity is two times greater than the heat capacity of the one-dimensional harmonic oscillator for higher temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Physics Letters

The thermal properties of the three-dimensional Dirac oscillator are considered. The canonical partition function is determined, and the high-temperature limit is assessed. The degeneracy of energy levels and their physical implications on the main thermodynamic functions are analyzed, revealing that these functions assume values greater than the one-dimensional case. So that at high temperatures, the limit value of the specific heat is three times bigger.

The ambiguity involved in the definition of effective-mass Hamiltonians for nonrelativistic models is resolved using the Dirac equation. The multistep approximation is extended for relativistic cases allowing the treatment of arbitrary potential and effective-mass profiles without ordering problems. On the other hand, if the Schrödinger equation is supposed to be used, our relativistic approach demonstrate that both results are coincidents if the Ben-Daniel and Duke prescription for the kinetic-energy operator is implemented. Applications for semiconductor heterostructures are discussed.