The thermodynamic properties of the noninteracting Bose gas in the neighborhood of its transition are examined in detail. The order parameter is a complex extensive variable, but the thermodynamic properties depend only on its amplitude under simple boundary conditions. As the dimensionality or the single-particle energy spectrum is varied, the critical singularity displays a variety of forms. The equation of state has a simple structure, different from the homogeneous form often discussed for critical systems but asymptotically reducing to the latter except when logarithmic singularities are involved. The correlation function in the critical region is a homogeneous function of the distance and a correlation length. Only for a quadratic energy spectrum is the Ornstein-Zernike theory result valid at the critical temperature. A precise correspondence is noted between the asymptotic properties of the ideal Bose gas transition and those of the spherical model of ferromagnetism.
The thermodynamic properties of the noninteracting Bose gas in the neighborhood of its transition are examined in detail. The order parameter is a complex extensive variable, but the thermodynamic properties depend only on its amplitude under simple boundary conditions. As the dimensionality or the single-particle energy spectrum is varied, the critical singularity displays a variety of forms. The equation of state has a simple structure, different from the homogeneous form often discussed for critical systems but asymptotically reducing to the latter except when logarithmic singularities are involved. The correlation function in the critical region is a homogeneous function of the distance and a correlation length. Only for a quadratic energy spectrum is the Ornstein-Zernike theory result valid at the critical temperature. A precise correspondence is noted between the asymptotic properties of the ideal Bose gas transition and those of the spherical model of ferromagnetism.
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.
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.
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 analytical theory of Bose–Einstein condensation of an ideal gas in mesoscopic systems has been briefly reviewed in application to traps with arbitrary shapes and dimension. This theory describes the phases of the classical gas and the formed Bose–Einstein condensate, as well as the entire vicinity of the phase transition point. The statistics and thermodynamics of Bose–Einstein condensation have been studied in detail, including their self-similar structure in the critical region, transition to the thermodynamic limit, effect of boundary conditions on the properties of a system, and nonequivalence of the description of Bose–Einstein condensation in different statistical ensembles. The complete classification of universality classes of Bose–Einstein condensation has been given.
We discuss the thermodynamics of a nonrelativistic gas of bosons with a local repulsive interaction. In particular, we compute the temperature and density dependences of pressure, energy and entropy densities, superfluid and condensate fractions, correlation length, specific heat, isothermal and adiabatic compressibilities, and various sound velocities. The $T\ensuremath{\rightarrow}0$ limit approaches the quantum phase transition, while the universal critical behavior of a classical second-order phase transition in the O(2) universality class determines the region around the critical temperature. Our nonperturbative flow equations based on exact functional renormalization cover all regions in the phase diagram.
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.