Abstract The critical properties displayed by an ideal 2D Bose gas trapped in a harmonic potential are determined and characterized in an exact numerical fashion. Beyond thermodynamics, addressed in terms of the global pressure and volume which are the appropriate variables of a fluid confined in a non-uniform harmonic potential, the density-density correlation function is also calculated and the corresponding correlation length is found. Evaluation of all these quantities as Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) is approached manifest its critical continuous phase transition character. The divergence of the correlation length as the critical temperature is reached, unveils the expected spatial scale invariance proper of a critical transition. The logarithmic singularities of this transition are traced back to the non-analytic behavior of the thermodynamic variables at vanishing chemical potential, which is the onset of BEC. The critical exponents associated with the ideal BEC transition in the 2D inhomogeneous fluid reveals its own universality class.
Abstract The critical properties displayed by an ideal 2D Bose gas trapped in a harmonic potential are determined and characterized in an exact numerical fashion. Beyond thermodynamics, addressed in terms of the global pressure and volume which are the appropriate variables of a fluid confined in a non-uniform harmonic potential, the density-density correlation function is also calculated and the corresponding correlation length is found. Evaluation of all these quantities as Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) is approached manifest its critical continuous phase transition character. The divergence of the correlation length as the critical temperature is reached, unveils the expected spatial scale invariance proper of a critical transition. The logarithmic singularities of this transition are traced back to the non-analytic behavior of the thermodynamic variables at vanishing chemical potential, which is the onset of BEC. The critical exponents associated with the ideal BEC transition in the 2D inhomogeneous fluid reveals its own universality class.
The critical properties of the phase transition from a normal gas to a BEC (superfluid) of a harmonically confined Bose gas are analyzed using a proposed model for the equation of state of the underlying homogenous Bose fluid. The equation of state is given in terms of the homogenous particle density as a function of the chemical potential and temperature of the gas. On the normal side of the fluid it is assumed to be an ideal Bose gas while in the superfluid state we propose a function that, both, asymptotically reaches the Thomas-Fermi solution of a weakly interacting Bose gas at large densities and low temperatures and, at the transition, matches the critical properties of the ideal Bose gas. With this model we obtain the {\it global} thermodynamics of the harmonically confined gas which shows that, at the critical transition of the confined gas, the thermodynamic susceptibilities, such as the isothermal compressibility, do not diverge, in contrast to the behavior of the uniform gas. The singularity of the critical transition in the confined system appears now at the derivatives of the susceptibilities. We discuss how these properties can be experimentally tested.
Abstract The critical properties of the phase transition from a normal gas to a Bose–Einstein condensate (superfluid) of a harmonically confined Bose gas are addressed with the knowledge of an equation of state of the underlying homogeneous Bose fluid. It is shown that while the presence of the confinement trap arrests the usual divergences of the isothermal compressibility and heat capacities, the critical behavior manifests itself now in the divergence of derivatives of the mentioned susceptibilities. This result is illustrated with a mean-field like model of an equation of state for the homogeneous particle density as a function of the chemical potential and temperature of the gas. The model assumes the form of an ideal Bose gas in the normal fluid while in the superfluid state a function is proposed such that, both, asymptotically reaches the Thomas–Fermi solution of a weakly interacting Bose gas at large densities and low temperatures and, at the transition, matches the critical properties of the ideal Bose gas. With this model we obtain the global thermodynamics of the harmonically confined gas, from which we analyze its critical properties. We discuss how these properties can be experimentally tested.
Ideal Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) remains a paradigmatic example of a continuous phase transition and a cornerstone for understanding quantum degenerate bosonic matter. We demonstrate that critical behavior of the ideal Bose gas near the BEC phase transition falls into three distinct classes, determined exclusively by the low-energy scaling of the density of states. Depending on its scaling exponent, which is controlled by dimensionality and confinement, the transition displays either the usual algebraic divergences of thermodynamic susceptibilities, divergent behavior with marginal logarithmic corrections, or a more subtle form of criticality, where only the correlation length diverges. Our work provides a unified framework for criticality in noninteracting bosonic systems. This classification applies broadly to atomic, photonic, polaritonic, and magnonic condensates, where dimensionality, confinement, and spectral engineering can strongly reshape the density of states.
We report the measurement of the global thermal expansion coefficient of a confined Bose gas of 87Rb in a harmonic potential around the Bose-Einstein condensation transition temperature. We use the concept of global thermodynamic variable, previously introduced and appropriated for a non homogeneous system. The data show divergence on the thermal expansion coefficient near the transition temperature and analyses of the universality behavior shows a critical exponent α=0.15±0.09. With this obtained value and the critical exponent for the correlation length recently presented in the literature we analyse the scaling law combining dimension and critical exponents.
Critical exponents characterize the divergent scaling of thermodynamic quantities near phase transitions and allow for the classification of physical systems into universality classes. While quantum gases thermalizing by interparticle interactions fall into the XY model universality class, the ideal Bose gas has been predicted to form a distinct universality class whose signatures have not yet been revealed experimentally. Here, we report the observation of critical scaling in a two-dimensional trapped quantum gas of essentially noninteracting photons, which thermalize by radiative contact to a reservoir of molecules inside a microcavity. By measuring the spatial correlations near the condensation transition, we determine the critical exponent for the correlation length to be ν=0.52(4). Our results constitute a first experimental test of the long-standing scaling predictions for the Bose gas universality class.
The study of second-order phase transitions is a broad research theme that provides fundamental insights into the physical nature of complex systems. A central aspect deals with the concept of universal behavior. Universality governs, for example, the diverging correlated fluctuations of an order parameter, characterized by a macroscopic correlation length ξ, as well as the divergence of other thermodynamic quantities near the critical point. Extracting the critical exponents associated with these diverging quantities shows that quite different physical systems can exhibit identical scaling behavior, placing them into common universality classes. Bose-Einstein condensation of an ideal (i.e., non-interacting) gas of bosons is a second-order phase transition, and thus provides a valuable platform to investigate universal critical behavior in the quantum gas regime, driven purely by quantum statistics rather than inter-particle interactions. While historically studied in ultracold atomic and molecular gases, Bose-Einstein condensation can now be realized in a two-dimensional photonic gas at room temperature using dye-filled microcavities. The microcavity imposes a low-energy cutoff, providing a non-vanishing ground state and an effective mass for the intracavity photons, which thermalize via repeated absorption and emission processes with the dye reservoir rather than inter-particle interactions. Consequently, this platform establishes an almost perfectly ideal, two-dimensional quantum gas of light. In combination with versatile trapping techniques, it provides a highly tunable platform to explore the thermodynamics of quantum gases. This thesis presents a quantitative study of spatial correlations in a uniformly trapped two-dimensional photon gas. The uniform confinement is achieved by a custom mirror-structuring technique, resulting in box-like trapping potentials. The temporal and spatial coherence properties of the gas are validated in both the thermal and condensed regimes using an interferometric measurement technique. Because the applicability of scanning interferometry limits measurements of critical scaling behavior, an alternative method is introduced to extract the first-order spatial coherence directly from the far-field angular distribution of the cavity emission in a single experimental shot. This technique enables the extraction of the spatial correlation length ξ and a precise evaluation of its scaling behavior in the vicinity of the critical point Nc. The measurements presented here demonstrate, for the first time, the determination of a critical exponent in the (ideal) Bose gas universality class. The obtained critical exponent of ν = 0.52 ± 0.04 for the two-dimensional ideal Bose gas is consistent with theoretical expectations. Crucially, this critical exponent is found to be robust and independent of the system size within experimental uncertainties, demonstrating the universality of the scaling behavior. Finally, the limits of this universal behavior are explored by demonstrating the breakdown of critical scaling when the thermalizing coupling between the photons and dye molecules in the cavity is reduced, driving the photon gas out of thermal equilibrium.