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Physical Review A

Bose-Einstein condensation of a finite number of particles confined to harmonic traps

Raj K. Pathria

Published Aug 1, 1998• 60 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The onset of Bose-Einstein condensation in a sample of N atoms confined to harmonic traps is critically examined. The monotonic growth of the condensate fraction f and the nonmonotic variation of the specific heat C of the sample are studied in fine detail. While no temperature is truly critical, our analysis does provide a strong theoretical basis for recognizing a temperature ${T}^{*},$ that has been identified and advocated by previous authors, as the transition temperature of the system. The specific-heat maximum ${T}_{m}$ (which happens to be another important ``marker'' in this transition), the value of the specific heat at ${T=T}_{m},$ and the ``jump'' in the specific heat of the system when the number N becomes very large are all explicitly evaluated. Wherever comparison is possible, our analytical results are found to be in perfect agreement with the ones obtained numerically by Kirsten and Toms [Phys. Rev. A 54, 4188 (1996)] and by Haugerud, Haugest, and Ravndal [Phys. Lett. A 225, 18 (1997)].

DOI
10.1103/physreva.58.1490

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The onset of Bose-Einstein condensation in a sample of N atoms confined to harmonic traps is critically examined. The monotonic growth of the condensate fraction f and the nonmonotic variation of the specific heat C of the sample are studied in fine detail. While no temperature is truly critical, our analysis does provide a strong theoretical basis for recognizing a temperature T∗,{T}^{*},T∗, that has been identified and advocated by previous authors, as the transition temperature of the system. The specific-heat maximum Tm{T}_{m}Tm​ (which happens to be another important marker'' in this transition), the value of the specific heat at ${T=T}_{m},$ and the jump'' in the specific heat of the system when the number N becomes very large are all explicitly evaluated. Wherever comparison is possible, our analytical results are found to be in perfect agreement with the ones obtained numerically by Kirsten and Toms [Phys. Rev. A 54, 4188 (1996)] and by Haugerud, Haugest, and Ravndal [Phys. Lett. A 225, 18 (1997)].
We have investigated the thermodynamic behaviour of ideal Bose gases with an arbitrary number of particles confined in a harmonic potential. By taking into account the conservation of the total number N of particles and using a saddle-point approximation, we derive analytically the simple explicit expression of mean occupation number in any state of the finite system. The temperature dependence of the chemical potential, specific heat, and condensate fraction for the trapped finite-size Bose system is obtained numerically. We compare our results with the usual treatment which is based on the grand canonical ensemble. It is shown that there exists a considerable difference between them at sufficiently low temperatures, especially for the relative small numbers of Bose atoms. The finite-size scaling at the transition temperature for the harmonically trapped systems is also discussed. We find that the scaled condensate fractions for various system sizes and temperatures collapse onto a single scaled form.
Abstract We study Bose-Einstein condensation of comparatively small numbers of atoms trapped by a three-dimensional harmonic oscillator potential. Under the assumption that grand canonical statis­tics applies, we derive analytical expressions for the condensation temperature, the ground state occupation, and the specific heat capacity. For a gas of TV atoms the condensation temperature is proportional to N1/3, apart from a downward shift of order N-1/3. A signature of the condensation is a pronounced peak of the heat capacity. For not too small N the heat capacity is nearly discon­tinuous at the onset of condensation; the magnitude of the jump is about 6.6 N k. Our continuum approximations are derived with the help of the proper density of states which allows us to calculate finite-AT-corrections, and checked against numerical computations.
We study the thermodynamic behavior of an ideal gas of bosons trapped in a three-dimensional anisotropic harmonic-oscillator potential. The condensate fraction as well as the specific heat is calculated using the Euler-Maclaurin approximation. For a finite number of particles there is no phase transition, but there is a well-defined temperature at which the condensation starts. We also consider condensation in lower dimensions, and, for one-dimensional systems, we discuss the dependence of the condensate fraction and heat capacity on the ensemble used.
A simple and direct approach to handle summation is presented. With this approach, we analytically investigate Bose–Einstein condensation of ideal Bose gas trapped in an isotropic harmonic oscillator potential. We get the accurate expression of which is very close to (0.43% larger than) the experimental data. We find the curve of internal energy of the system vs. temperature has a turning point which marks the beginning of a condensation. We also find that there exists specific heat jump at the transition temperature, no matter whether the system is macroscopic or finite. This phenomenon could be a manifestation of a phase transition in finite systems.
This paper presents a study of the grand canonical Bose-Einstein (BE) statistics for a finite number of particles in an arbitrary quantum system. The thermodynamical quantities that identify BE condensation---namely, the fraction of particles in the ground state and the specific heat---are calculated here exactly in terms of temperature and fugacity. These calculations are complemented by a numerical calculation of fugacity in terms of the number of particles, without taking the thermodynamic limit. The main advantage of this approach is that it does not rely on approximations made in the vicinity of the usually defined critical temperature, rather it makes calculations with arbitrary precision possible, irrespective of temperature. Graphs for the calculated thermodynamical quantities are presented in comparison to the results previously obtained in the thermodynamic limit. In particular, it is observed that for the gas trapped in a three-dimensional box, the derivative of specific heat reaches smaller values than what was expected in the thermodynamic limit---here, this result is also verified with analytical calculations. This is an important result for understanding the role of the thermodynamic limit in phase transitions and makes possible to further study BE statistics without relying neither on the thermodynamic limit nor on approximations near critical temperature.
One of the most interesting properties of boson gases is that under special conditions, there is a possibility of a phase transition, in a critical temperature below which all bosons condensate into the ground state. This phenomenon is called Bose – Einstein Condensation (BEC). In this paper, we investigate BEC in a harmonic oscillator trap. We conclude that, in contrast to a free boson gas, there is no critical temperature for phase transition in a harmonic oscillator trap. However , by numerical and analytical calculation, it is possible to obtain a temperature at which the heat capacity is maximum. We call this the critical temperature . Possible explanation for all these features will be explained in this paper.