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European Journal of Physics

Bose-Einstein condensation in the canonical ensemble

D. K. Sunko

Published Jun 19, 2000• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A simple description of Bose-Einstein condensation for non-interacting bosons is provided, based on an easily derived quantum correction to the canonical partition function. It is distinguished by the explicit appearance of the factor N !, which enhances the classical probability of finding bosons in the same state, and an elementary demonstration, that the transition should be sharper in temperature as the number of particles in the system increases. The reasoning is made explicit for the usual example of the ideal-gas dispersion.

DOI
10.1088/0143-0807/21/4/309

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A simple description of Bose-Einstein condensation for non-interacting bosons is provided, based on an easily derived quantum correction to the canonical partition function. It is distinguished by the explicit appearance of the factor N !, which enhances the classical probability of finding bosons in the same state, and an elementary demonstration, that the transition should be sharper in temperature as the number of particles in the system increases. The reasoning is made explicit for the usual example of the ideal-gas dispersion.
We calculate certain features of Bose–Einstein condensation in the ideal gas by using recurrence relations for the partition function. The grand canonical ensemble gives inaccurate results for certain properties of the condensate that are accurately provided by the canonical ensemble. Calculations in the latter can be made tractable for finite systems by means of the recurrence relations. The ideal one-dimensional harmonic Bose gas provides a particularly simple and pedagogically useful model for which detailed results are easily derived. An analysis of the Bose system via permutation cycles yields insight into the physical meaning of the recurrence relations.
A nonequilibrium approach to the dynamics and statistics of the condensate of an ideal N-atom Bose gas cooling via interaction with a thermal reservoir using the canonical ensemble is developed. We derive simple analytical expressions for the canonical partition function and equilibrium distribution of the number of atoms in the ground state of a trap under different approximations, and compare them with exact numerical results. The N-particle constraint associated with the canonical ensemble is usually a burden. In the words of Kittel, ``in the investigation of the Bose-Einstein\dots{}laws it is very inconvenient to impose the restriction that the number of particles in the subsystem shall be held constant.'' But in the present approach, based on the analogy between a second-order phase transition and laser threshold behavior, the N-particle constraint makes the problem easier. We emphasize that the present work provides another example of a case in which equilibrium (detailed balance) solutions to nonequilibrium equations of motion provide a useful supplementary approach to conventional statistical mechanics. We also discuss some dynamical and mesoscopic aspects of Bose-Einstein condensation. The conclusion is that the present analytical (but approximate) results, based on a nonequilibrium approach, are in excellent agreement with exact (but numerical) results. The present analysis has much in common with the quantum theory of the laser.
We present a new method of calculating the distribution function and fluctuations for a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of N interacting atoms. The present formulation combines our previous master equation and canonical ensemble quasiparticle techniques. It is applicable both for ideal and interacting Bogoliubov BEC and yields remarkable accuracy at all temperatures. For the interacting gas of 200 bosons in a box we plot the temperature dependence of the first four central moments of the condensate particle number and compare the results with the ideal gas. For the interacting mesoscopic BEC, as with the ideal gas, we find a smooth transition for the condensate particle number as we pass through the critical temperature.
Condensation of the ideal Bose gas in a closed volume having the shape of a rectangular parallel-epiped of length L with a square base of side length l ( L ≫ l ) is theoretically studied within the framework of the Bose-Einstein statistics (grand canonical ensemble) and within the statistics of a canonical ensemble of bosons. Under the condition N ( l/L ) 4 ≪ l, where N is the total number of gas particles, dependence of the average number of particles in the condensate on the temperature T in both statistics is expressed as a function of the ratio t = T/T 1 , where T 1 is a certain characteristic temperature depending only on the longitudinal size L . Therefore, the condensation process exhibits a one-dimensional (1D) character. In the 1D regime, the average numbers of particles in condensates of the grand canonical and canonical ensembles coincide only in the limiting cases of t → 0 and t → ∞. The distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons at t ≤1 has a resonance shape and qualitatively differs from the Bose-Einstein distribution. The former distribution begins to change in the region of t ∼ 1 and acquires the shape of the Bose-Einstein distribution for t ≫ 1. This transformation proceeds gradually that is, the 1D condensation process exhibits no features characteristic of the phase transition in a 3D system. For N ( l/L ) 4 ≫ 1, the process acquires a 3D character with respect to the average number of particles in the condensate, but the 1D character of the distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons is retained at all N values.
This chapter introduces the basic physics of Bose--Einstein condensation. We first start with why there is a difference between distinguishable and indistinguishable particles in terms of the number of states that are available in a composite system. Then Bose and Einstein's argument of why one expects a high probability of occupation of the ground state is discussed. This is derived then more rigorously for the grand canonical ensemble, showing that at some critical temperature there should be a macroscopic occupation of the ground state. Next, the low-lying energy spectrum of an interacting Bose--Einstein condensate is derived, leading to the Bogoliubov dispersion. The significance of the Bogoliubov dispersion as the origin of superfluidity is then discussed, in terms of superfluditysuperfluidity. Laudau'sLandau's criterion for superfluidity is derived, by general principles of Galilean transformations of Schrodinger's equation.
The topic of Bose–Einstein condensation in a uniform, non-interacting gas of bosons is treated in most textbooks on statistical mechanics. In the present chapter we discuss the properties of a non-interacting Bose gas in a trap. We shall calculate equilibrium properties of systems in a semi-classical approximation, in which the energy spectrum is treated as a continuum. For this approach to be valid the temperature must be large compared with Δ∊/ k , where Δ∊ denotes the separation between neighbouring energy levels. As is well known, at temperatures below the Bose–Einstein condensation temperature, the lowest-energy state is not properly accounted for if one simply replaces sums by integrals, and it must be included explicitly. The statistical distribution function is discussed in Sec. 2.1, as is the single-particle density of states, which is a key ingredient in the calculations of thermodynamic properties. Calculations of the transition temperature and the fraction of particles in the condensate are described in Sec. 2.2. In Sec. 2.3 the semi-classical distribution function is introduced. From this we obtain the density profile and the velocity distribution of particles, and use these to determine the shape of an anisotropic cloud after free expansion. Thermodynamic properties of Bose gases are calculated as functions of the temperature in Sec. 2.4. Finally, Sec. 2.5 treats corrections to the transition temperature due to a finite particle number.