The study of imperfect Bose gases provides an opportunity to understand how irreversibility arises in superflows, as it is a unique dynamical model where hydrodynamics can be related in a rational way to microscopic quantum dynamics. Over the years various specific problems have been investigated in this field, all with interesting implications in nonlinear science. Within the framework of kinetic theory we first review the way the condensate appears - an interesting example of finite-time blow-up of solutions of a nonlinear equation, with exponents derived from a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. Then we examine how the presence of the condensate changes the kinetic theory - something that is not yet fully understood. Finally, we look at the phenomenon of vortex nucleation and release in a model of superflow. This interesting example of a transonic transition can be analysed by solving locally the equation of compressible (super)fluid mechanics near the elliptic/hyperbolic transition.
The study of imperfect Bose gases provides an opportunity to understand how irreversibility arises in superflows, as it is a unique dynamical model where hydrodynamics can be related in a rational way to microscopic quantum dynamics. Over the years various specific problems have been investigated in this field, all with interesting implications in nonlinear science. Within the framework of kinetic theory we first review the way the condensate appears - an interesting example of finite-time blow-up of solutions of a nonlinear equation, with exponents derived from a nonlinear eigenvalue problem. Then we examine how the presence of the condensate changes the kinetic theory - something that is not yet fully understood. Finally, we look at the phenomenon of vortex nucleation and release in a model of superflow. This interesting example of a transonic transition can be analysed by solving locally the equation of compressible (super)fluid mechanics near the elliptic/hyperbolic transition.
The problem of understanding how a coherent, macroscopic Bose- Einstein condensate (BEC) emerges from the cooling of a thermal Bose gas has attracted significant theoretical and experimental interest over several decades. The pioneering achievement of BEC in weakly interacting dilute atomic gases in 1995 was followed by a number of experimental studies examining the growth of the BEC number, as well as the development of its coherence. More recently, there has been interest in connecting such experiments to universal aspects of nonequilibrium phase transitions, in terms of both static and dynamical critical exponents. Here, the spontaneous formation of topological structures such as vortices and solitons in quenched cold-atom experiments has enabled the verification of the Kibble-Zurek mechanism predicting the density of topological defects in continuous phase transitions, first proposed in the context of the evolution of the early universe. This chapter reviews progress in the understanding of BEC formation and discusses open questions and future research directions in the dynamics of phase transitions in quantum gases. Introduction The equilibrium phase diagram of the dilute Bose gas exhibits a continuous phase transition between condensed and noncondensed phases. The order parameter characteristic of the condensed phase vanishes above some critical temperature T c and grows continuously with decreasing temperature below this critical point. However, the dynamical process of condensate formation has proved to be a challenging phenomenon to address both theoretically and experimentally. This formation process is a crucial aspect of Bose systems and of direct relevance to all condensates discussed in this book, despite their evident system-specific properties. Important questions leading to intense discussions in the early literature include the time scale for condensate formation and the role of inhomogeneities and finite-size effects in “closed” systems. These issues are related to the concept of spontaneous symmetry breaking, its causes, and implications for physical systems (see, for example, Chapter 5 by Snoke and Daley). In this chapter, we give an overview of the dynamics of condensate formation and describe the present understanding provided by increasingly well-controlled cold-atom experiments and corresponding theoretical advances over the past twenty years. We focus on the growth of BECs in cooled Bose gases, which, from a theoretical standpoint, requires a suitable nonequilibrium formalism.
The discovery of Bose Einstein condensation (BEC) in trapped ultracold atomic gases in 1995 has led to an explosion of theoretical and experimental research on the properties of Bose-condensed dilute gases. The first treatment of BEC at finite temperatures, this book presents a thorough account of the theory of two-component dynamics and nonequilibrium behaviour in superfluid Bose gases. It uses a simplified microscopic model to give a clear, explicit account of collective modes in both the collisionless and collision-dominated regions. Major topics such as kinetic equations, local equilibrium and two-fluid hydrodynamics are introduced at an elementary level. Explicit predictions are worked out and linked to experiments. Providing a platform for future experimental and theoretical studies on the finite temperature dynamics of trapped Bose gases, this book is ideal for researchers and graduate students in ultracold atom physics, atomic, molecular and optical physics and condensed matter physics.
The mathematical contributions by X.G. Lu (J. Statist. Phys. 98 (5/6) (2000) 1335–1394) and by M. Escobedo et al. (Electronic J. Differential Equations, Monograph 4 (2003)) presented in this Note constitute the first stage in the understanding of the superfluid dynamics, especially of the Bose–Einstein condensation, by means of kinetic models. The Boltzmann–Nordheim equation, which is physically relevant to describe dilute quantum Bose gases, sets important mathematical problems. Nevertheless, under an unphysical truncation of the collision cross-section at low energies, it has been proved that the spatially homogeneous Cauchy problem is well-posed. Furthermore, relaxation towards equilibrium holds in a weak sense, with the appearance of a singularity in infinite time if the initial mass is supercritical, which corresponds to the formation of a Bose–Einstein condensate.
We review some modelling and numerical aspects in quantum kinetic theory for a gas of interacting bosons and we try to explain what makes Bose-Einstein condensation in a dilute gas mathematically interesting and numerically challenging. Particular care is devoted to the development of efficient numerical schemes for the quantum Boltzmann equation that preserve the main physical features of the continuous problem, namely conservation of mass and energy, the entropy inequality and generalized Bose-Einstein distributions as steady states. These properties are essential in order to develop numerical methods that are able to capture the challenging phenomenon of bosons condensation. We also show that the resulting schemes can be evaluated with the use of fast algorithms. In order to study the evolution of the condensate wave function the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is presented together with some schemes for its efficient numerical solution. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Since the first experimental observation of the Bose-Einstein condensation of a gas of alkali atoms, six years ago, there has been an increasing interest on this new, highly interdisciplinary, branch of physics. It was realized, from the very beginning that, despite of the diluteness of such systems, the nonlinearity was crucial on the understanding of both the equilibrium and dynamical properties. In this Thesis we point out that there is a further key aspect that must be taken into account when the condensates are trapped in deep optical lattices: discreteness. The interplay between discreteness and nonlinearity raises a new class of deeply non-trivial phenomena which disappear in the continuum limit of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation (GPE). Recognizing and exploiting such interplay is the main topic of this Thesis. We think that the dynamics of a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in optical lattices is going to become of central interest in the next future. Optical potentials provide BEC's waveguides, which prevent the spatial spreading of the BEC wave packets and preserve their coherence over long distances. This has allowed to build high sensitive interferometers, including gyroscopes and gravitometers. From the theoretical point of view, the big challenge is to reconsider the meaning of phenomena which have been well understood in homogeneous systems: superfluidity, for instance, is in the top list. A further example is given by quantum phase transitions. The connection and the interplay with the language and insights of the nonlinear physics community is a second challenge. We believe that the results obtained in the BEC context can provide a new prospective view into old problems. The understanding of the modulational instability in terms of phase randomization and a (classical) dynamical phase transition are among this line, as well as the possibility to generalize the Landau criteria for superfluidity to discrete systems. On the other hand, it is clear that nonlinear physicists can have much to say about BEC. With this Thesis we hope we have provided, together with original results, some links between these different languages and views.
The theory of the condensate of a weakly interacting Bose gas is developed. The condensate is described by a wavefunction ψ(x, t) normalized to the number of particles. It obeys a nonlinear self-consistent field equation. The solution in the presence of a rigid wall with the boundary condition of vanishing wavefunction involves a de Broglie length. This length depends on the mean potential energy per particle. The self-consistent field term keeps the density uniform except in localized spatial regions. In the hydrodynamical version, a key role is played by the quantum potential. A theory of quantized vortices and of general potential flows follows immediately. In contrast to classical hydrodynamics, the cores of vortices are completely determined by the de Broglie length and all energies are finite. Nonstationary disturbances of the condensate correspond to phonons, rotons, vortex waves etc. They can exchange momentum with rigid boundaries. This is compatible with the vanishing of the wavefunction at a boundary. This condition fully determines the dynamics of the system. These points are illustrated by considering the motion of a foreign ion in a Bose gas, a rotating container of fluid, and the Landau criterion for superfluidity.