The aim of this tutorial is to present the basic mathematical techniques required for an accurate description of cold trapped atoms, both Bose and Fermi. The term cold implies that considered temperatures are low, such that quantum theory is necessary, even if temperatures are finite. The term atoms means that the considered particles are structureless, being defined by their masses and mutual interactions. Atoms are trapped in the sense that they form a finite quantum system, though their number can be very large, allowing for the use of the methods of statistical mechanics. This tutorial is the first of several, giving general mathematical techniques for both types of particle statistics. The following tutorials will be devoted separately to Bose atoms and Fermi atoms. Carefully explaining basic techniques is important in order to avoid the numerous misconceptions which propagate in the literature.
The aim of this tutorial is to present the basic mathematical techniques required for an accurate description of cold trapped atoms, both Bose and Fermi. The term cold implies that considered temperatures are low, such that quantum theory is necessary, even if temperatures are finite. The term atoms means that the considered particles are structureless, being defined by their masses and mutual interactions. Atoms are trapped in the sense that they form a finite quantum system, though their number can be very large, allowing for the use of the methods of statistical mechanics. This tutorial is the first of several, giving general mathematical techniques for both types of particle statistics. The following tutorials will be devoted separately to Bose atoms and Fermi atoms. Carefully explaining basic techniques is important in order to avoid the numerous misconceptions which propagate in the literature.
Abstract This tutorial is the continuation of the previous tutorial part, published in (2013 Laser Phys . 23 062001 ), where the basic mathematical techniques required for an accurate description of cold atoms for both types of quantum statistics are expounded. In the present part, the specifics of the correct theoretical description of atoms obeying Bose–Einstein statistics are explained, including trapped Bose atoms. In the theory of systems exhibiting the phenomenon of Bose–Einstein condensation, there exists a number of delicate mathematical points, whose misunderstanding often results in principally wrong conclusions. This is why the consideration in the present tutorial is sufficiently detailed in order that the reader could clearly understand the underlying mathematics and would avoid confusions.
The theoretical description of trapped weakly-interacting Bose-Einstein condensates is characterized by a large number of seemingly very different approaches which have been developed over the course of time by researchers with very distinct backgrounds. Newcomers to this field, experimentalists and young researchers all face a considerable challenge in navigating through the ‘maze’ of abundant theoretical models, and simple correspondences between existing approaches are not always very transparent. This Tutorial provides a generic introduction to such theories, in an attempt to single out common features and deficiencies of certain ‘classes of approaches ’ identified by their physical content, rather than their particular mathematical implementation. This Tutorial is structured in a manner accessible to a non-specialist with a good working knowledge of quantum mechanics. Although some familiarity with concepts of quantum field theory would be an advantage, key notions such as the occupation number representation of second quantization are nonetheless briefly reviewed. Following a general introduction, the complexity of models is gradually built up, starting from the basic zero-temperature formalism of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This structure enables readers to probe different levels of theoretical developments (mean-field, number-conserving and stochastic) according to their particular needs. In addition to its ‘training element’, we hope that this Tutorial will prove useful to active researchers in this field, both in terms of the correspondences made between different theoretical models, and as a source of reference for existing and developing finite-temperature theoretical models.
The theoretical description of trapped weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensates is characterized by a large number of seemingly very different approaches which have been developed over the course of time by researchers with very distinct backgrounds. Newcomers to this field, experimentalists and young researchers all face a considerable challenge in navigating through the 'maze' of abundant theoretical models, and simple correspondences between existing approaches are not always very transparent. This tutorial provides a generic introduction to such theories, in an attempt to single out common features and deficiencies of certain 'classes of approaches' identified by their physical content, rather than their particular mathematical implementation. This tutorial is structured in a manner accessible to a non-specialist with a good working knowledge of quantum mechanics. Although some familiarity with concepts of quantum field theory would be an advantage, key notions, such as the occupation number representation of second quantization, are nonetheless briefly reviewed. Following a general introduction, the complexity of models is gradually built up, starting from the basic zero-temperature formalism of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. This structure enables readers to probe different levels of theoretical developments (mean field, number conserving and stochastic) according to their particular needs. In addition to its 'training element', we hope that this tutorial will prove useful to active researchers in this field, both in terms of the correspondences made between different theoretical models, and as a source of reference for existing and developing finite-temperature theoretical models.
The theoretical description of trapped weakly interacting Bose–Einstein condensates is characterized by a large number of seemingly very different approaches which have been developed over the course of time by researchers with very distinct backgrounds. Newcomers to this field, experimentalists and young researchers all face a considerable challenge in navigating through the 'maze' of abundant theoretical models, and simple correspondences between existing approaches are not always very transparent. This tutorial provides a generic introduction to such theories, in an attempt to single out common features and deficiencies of certain 'classes of approaches' identified by their physical content, rather than their particular mathematical implementation. This tutorial is structured in a manner accessible to a non-specialist with a good working knowledge of quantum mechanics. Although some familiarity with concepts of quantum field theory would be an advantage, key notions, such as the occupation number representation of second quantization, are nonetheless briefly reviewed. Following a general introduction, the complexity of models is gradually built up, starting from the basic zero-temperature formalism of the Gross–Pitaevskii equation. This structure enables readers to probe different levels of theoretical developments (mean field, number conserving and stochastic) according to their particular needs. In addition to its 'training element', we hope that this tutorial will prove useful to active researchers in this field, both in terms of the correspondences made between different theoretical models, and as a source of reference for existing and developing finite-temperature theoretical models.
In this tutorial we present an introduction to some theoretical methods of quantum field theory applied to the description of a trapped Bose–Einstein condensate. First of all, we give a brief account of the main characteristics of the phenomenon of condensation and present the many-body Hamiltonian of the system. We outline some of the most important approaches used in the characterization of a condensed Bose gas, including the mean-field theory and the Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov method. Finally we illustrate the use of these techniques addressing some important issues in quantum atom optics. We characterize the quantum state of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) at zero temperature. We also describe a process of Beliaev coupling between quasiparticles using a method that includes terms beyond the usual Bogoliubov approach.
The experimental revolution in ultracold atomic gas physics over the past decades has brought tremendous amounts of new insight to the world of degenerate quantum systems. Here we compare and contrast the developments of cold atomic gases with the physics of nuclei since many concepts, techniques, and nomenclatures are common to both fields. However, nuclei are finite systems with interactions that are typically much more complicated than those of ultracold atomic gases. The similarities and differences must therefore be carefully addressed for a meaningful comparison and to facilitate fruitful crossdisciplinary activity. We first consider condensates of bosonic and paired systems of fermionic particles with the mean-field description, but take great care to point out potential problems in the limit of small particle numbers. Along the way we review some of the basic results of Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer (BCS) theory, as well as the BCS–BEC crossover and the Fermi gas in the unitarity limit, all within the context of ultracold atoms. Subsequently, we consider the specific example of an atomic Fermi gas from a nuclear physics perspective, comparing degrees of freedom, interactions, and relevant length and energy scales of cold atoms and nuclei. Next we address some attempts in nuclear physics to transfer the concepts of condensates in nuclei that can in principle be built from bosonic alpha-particle constituents. We also consider Efimov physics, a prime example of nuclear physics transferred to cold atoms, and consider which systems are more likely to show interesting bound state spectra. Finally, we address some recent studies of the BCS–BEC crossover in light nuclei and compare them to the concepts used in ultracold atomic gases. While many-body concepts such as BEC or BCS states are applicable in both subfields, we find that the interactions and finite particle numbers in nuclei can obscure the clear meaning they have in cold atoms. On the other hand, universal results from atomic physics should have an impact on certain limits of the nuclear domain. In particular, with advances in the trapping of few-body atomic systems we expect a more direct exchange of ideas and results.