Ideal Bose Gas

A Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) is a defined as the occurrence of the macroscopic occupation of one-particle states. When a dilute gas of bosons cooled to temperatures very close to 0K (usually ~100nK in experiments), a large fraction of bosons occupies the lowest quantum state, at which point macroscopic quantum phenomena become apparent.

In this section, we summarize some basic and useful thermodynamic results and properties for Bose-Einstein condensations. F

Phase Space Density

The fundamental difference between a BEC and a classical gas is the occupancy of a single-particle state. In a classical gas, the mean occupation number for a single quantum state satisfies the Boltzmann distribution Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \langle n_{\nu} \rangle = e^{-(\epsilon_{\nu}-\mu)/kT} } which is much less than unity. This feature is qualitatively captured by the ${\textit {Phase-spaceDensity}}$ defined as (3D, homogeneous gas)

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho_D = n\lambda_T^3 \,, }

where Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lambda_T = (2\pi\hbar^2/mkT)^{1/2}} is the thermal de Broglie wavelength.

Some typical parameters for

• Classical thermal gas
  • Atom density Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n \sim 10^{25} \text{m}^{-3}}
  • Interatomic distance Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle (1/n)^{1/3} \sim 3 \text{nm} }
  • Thermal de Broglie wavelength Failed to parse (syntax error): {\displaystyle \lambda_T \sim 10^{-2} \text{nm}（T = 300K) }
  • Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho_D \sim 10^{-8} }
• BEC in dilute gas
  • Atom density Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle n \sim 10^{20} \text{m}^{-3}}
  • Interatomic distance $(1/n)^{1/3}\sim 10^{2}{\text{nm}}$
  • Thermal de Broglie wavelength Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \lambda_T \sim 10^{3} \text{nm}（T = 100nK) }
  • Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho_D \sim 10^{2} }

The Bose-Einstein Distribution

For non-interacting bosons in thermodynamic equilibrium, the mean occupation number of the single-particle state $\nu$ is

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle f(\epsilon, \mu, T) = \frac{1}{e^{(\epsilon_{\nu}-\mu)/kT}-1} = \frac{1}{z^{-1}e^{\epsilon_{\nu}/kT}-1} \,. }

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z = exp(\beta \mu)} is defined as fugacity. At high temperature, the chemical potential lies below $\epsilon _{min}$. As temperature is lower, the chemical potential rises until it reaches Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \epsilon_{min} } and the mean occupation numbers increase.

Thermodynamics in Semi-classical Limits

We focused on the semi-classical case where Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle kT \gg \delta E} . Here $\delta E$ is the scale for enery level spacing in the trapping potential (for example, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \delta E = \hbar \omega} for 3D harmonic trapping. This is usually valid in a real experiment where Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle kT \approx 2000 Hz} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \delta E \approx 100Hz } . In this case, the system can be treated as a continuous excited energy spectrum plus a separated ground state. It seems to be contradictory to the nature of BEC when most of the population is found in the single ground state, but this description is a good enough approximation in many situations. The fully quantum description is necessary for some cases as we will see in the Pedagogical Example in end.

Transition Temperature

When Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \nu = \epsilon_{min} } , the occupation number on the ground state can be arbitrarily large, indicating the emergence of a condensate. The corresponding temperature is the transition temperature $T_{c}$. Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_c } can be calculated with the criteria that the maximum number of particles can be held in the excited states is equal to the total particle number Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N } . In the semi-classical limit where the sum over all states is replaced by an integral and simple assumption that Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \epsilon_{min} = 0} we have

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N = N_0 + N_{ex} \,. }

where we define

$N_{ex}:=\int \limits _{0}^{\infty }f(\epsilon ,\mu =0,T_{c})g(\epsilon )\mathrm {d} \epsilon \,.$

Here Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle g(\epsilon) } is the density of states. Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N_0 } is the number of atoms in the ground state. Notice that the chemical potential Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \mu = 0} is set to 0 (or in fact Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \epsilon_{min}} without any justifications. In fact, by setting $\mu =0$ what we are calculating here is the maximum possible number of atoms that can be accommodated by the "excited" states. If the total number of atoms is larger tan that, the rest must go to the ground state. A more rigorous calculation without this assumption can be found in the section Finite number effects.

The form of the transition temperature Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_c } and therefore the condensate atom number depends strongly on the form of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle g(\epsilon) } which is affected by the dimension, trapping potential and the dispersion of the system. Under the most general assumption that Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle g(\epsilon) \propto \epsilon^{\alpha - 1} } , we reach

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N \propto C_{\alpha}(kT_c)^{\alpha}\int\limits_{0}^{\infty} \mathrm{d}x\frac{x^{\alpha-1}}{e^{x} - 1} \,. }

where Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle x = \epsilon/(kT_c)} . Straightforwardly we have a simple scaling function

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle kT_c \propto N^{\frac{1}{\alpha}} \,. }

Some common cases are summarized below

cases:	3D box	2D box	3D Harmonic	2D Harmonic
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \alpha}	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 3/2}	$1,diverge$	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 3}	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle 2}

We see that the semi-classical picture is already good enough to capture some basic condensate physics. As a quick exaple, for the parameters in a typical AMO experiment (3D, harmonic trapping)

• $N\sim 10^{6}$
• harmonic trapping frequencies Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \omega_i \sim 2\pi \times100Hz }

We have Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle T_c \approx 450nK }

Thermodynamic Properties

The thermodynamic properties $H$can be readily calculated from the Bose distributions and sum over all the states.

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle H = \int\limits_{0}^{\infty} H(\epsilon)f(\epsilon, \mu, T) g(\epsilon) \mathrm{d} \epsilon \,. }

For example, the total energy

$E=\int \limits _{0}^{\infty }\epsilon f(\epsilon ,\mu ,T)g(\epsilon )\mathrm {d} \epsilon \propto (kT)^{\alpha }\int \limits _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {x^{\alpha }}{e^{x}-1}}\mathrm {d} x\,.$

We therefore can obtain a scaling law for all the importnat thermodynamic quantities as listed below assuming that Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle g(\epsilon) \propto \epsilon^{\alpha - 1}} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle H\propto T^{\delta}}

Thermodynamic Property:	E	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle C_V=\partial E/\partial T}	Entropy S
Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \delta}	$\alpha +1$	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \alpha}	Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \alpha}

It is also useful to express the relationship with dimensionless parameter Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \gamma = T/T_c} considering Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N\propto T_c^{\alpha}} we therefore obtain

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle E \propto NkT\gamma^{\alpha}, C_V \propto Nk\gamma^{\alpha}, S \propto Nk\gamma^{\alpha} \,. }

Beyond Semi-classical Limits

A more quantum way to deal with the system is by treating the energy levels as discrete and replace the integral with summation and also consider the constraint

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \sum_{i=0}^{\infty} f(\epsilon_i, z, T) = N }

Notice that this time the ground state is not separated from the summation. Given the energy spectrum Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \epsilon_i} which is often determined by the trapping potential, and temperature $T$, the constraint allows the calculation of Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle z(N, T)} at least numerically. We then immediately get the ground state occupation Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle N_0 = \frac{z}{1-z}} .

Superfluidity and Coherence

Superfluidity and Coherence phenomena are the most spectacular consequences of Bose-Einstein condensates.

Off-Diagonal Long-Range Order

The global phase coherence in a BEC is related to the occurrence of the off-diagonal long-range order. We shall see that macroscopic occupation of a single particle state produces such order.

Mathematically, we characterise th between atoms at position Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \vec{r}} and Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \vec{r}'} with

$\rho ^{(1)}({\vec {r}},{\vec {r}}')=\langle {\hat {\psi }}^{\dagger }({\vec {r}}){\hat {\psi }}({\vec {r}}')\rangle \,.$

The term Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{r}, \vec{r}')} is sometimes also called real space first-order correlation function. We notice that Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{r}, \vec{r})} is nothing but the atomic density at potision Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \vec{r}} .

In a homogeneous system, Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{r}, \vec{r}')} depends only on the relative coordinate Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \vec{s} = \vec{r} - \vec{r}'} . The correlation function then reveals the distribution in the momenutm space.

Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{s})= \frac{1}{V}\int \mathrm{d}\vec{p}\ \rho(\vec{p})e^{i\vec{p}\cdot\vec{s}} \,. }

• In a thermal gas, we have Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{s}) \rightarrow 0 } as $|{\vec {s}}|\rightarrow \infty$.
• In a BEC, we have macrosopically populated state ( for example in a box we populate Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\vec{p} = 0 \rangle } ), we then have Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle \rho^{(1)}(\vec{s}) \rightarrow \sim \frac{N_0}{V} } as Failed to parse (MathML with SVG or PNG fallback (recommended for modern browsers and accessibility tools): Invalid response ("Math extension cannot connect to Restbase.") from server "https://wikimedia.org/api/rest_v1/":): {\displaystyle |\vec{s}| \rightarrow \infty } .

Direct experimental evidence of the phase coherence was found by observing the interference between two BECs created by splitting a single piece (see andrew, Townsend "et. al." Science 275, 637).

File:Interference bec.jpg

alt text

Some Remarks

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