This PhD thesis contains new results on the mathematical study of Bose-Einstein condensation and the main part of it is devoted to mixtures of condensates, i.e., systems composed of multiple bosonic species in interaction. We prove the validity of effective ground state theories for mixtures in the Gross-Pitaevskii and mean-field regime. We show that the ground state energy asymptotics, in the large-N limit, is captured by the minimum of a suitable one-body functional. Moreover, we prove that in the ground state all species exhibit Bose-Einstein condensation onto the minimizer of that functional. For mixtures in the mean-field regime, we provide a rigorous justification of Bogoliubov’s theory. This is done by computing the contribution to the ground state energy which is due to excited particles. We also prove a norm approximation for the ground state vector, in the Fock space norm. From the time-dependent viewpoint, we prove for the first time the validity of the effective equations that were previously known due to heuristic physical arguments, and that are confirmed by robust experimental evidence. Our results show that, for mixtures in the Gross-Pitaevskii and mean-field regime, the effective dynamics is governed by a system of non-linear Schrödinger equations, one for each species of the mixture. In the final part of the thesis we present additional results on problems and models related to the study on mixtures. We were able to derive the effective dynamics for spinor- and pseudo-spinor condensates. The equations that we obtain are precisely those of modern experiments with ultra-cold spin bosons. We also show that the mean-field model provide a time-dependent control of condensation that is very accurate for the typical duration times of experiments. A further result is the global well-posedness in the energy space of the singular Hartree equation. Last, we present new remarks on the adaptation of known techniques that one needs in order to prove the derivation of the magnetic Gross-Pitaevskii equation.
Bose-Einstein condensates have been experimentally realized in cold Bose gases for the first time in 1995.This discovery has renewed interest in the theory of interacting Bose gases; however, the mathematical understanding of Bose-Einstein condensation is still incomplete.In this thesis we derive effective theories for the dynamical and spectral properties of Bose gases.Our theoretical description is based on scaling regimes where the number of particles N becomes large and the two-body interaction potential scales as N 3β-1 V (N β •), for a fixed β ∈ (0, 1].The case β = 1 is known as Gross-Pitaevskii regime.Our first result concerns the time evolution of Bose-Einstein condensates after the trapping potential is removed.In previous works, it was shown that the many-body dynamics can be approximated by a one-body nonlinear Schrödinger equation at the level of reduced density matrices.We provide a more precise approximation of the time evolution: in a second-quantized setting, we construct a unitary effective dynamics, which, in the limit of large N , approximates the fully evolved state in Fock space norm.Our result comes with an explicit bound on the rate of convergence.It is valid for β < 1.Our second result addresses the properties of the ground state wave function.It has been shown before that the ground state wave function exhibits condensation in the limit N → ∞, i.e. the one-particle density matrix associated to the ground state approaches a projection.We prove the optimal bound for the convergence rate, for a translation invariant system.To do this, we estimate uniformly in N the number of excited particles.This result is valid for β = 1.Our last result concerns the ground state energy and the excitation spectrum of the translation invariant system.We prove the validity of Bogoliubov theory; this allows us to compute the ground state energy and the low-lying excitation spectrum up to an error that vanishes for large N .This result holds for β < 1.This thesis is based on the articles [11], [9] and [10].i
This thesis is about the derivation of effective mean field equations and their next-order corrections starting from nonrelativistic many-body quantum theory. Mean field equations provide an approximate ansatz for the description of interacting many-particle systems. In this ansatz the interaction between the particles is replaced by a self-consistent external potential leading to an effective one-body description of the many-particle system. Next-order corrections provide an approximation which goes one step further and tries to capture also subleading effects that are not resolved by the mean field ansatz. We present mathematical proofs for the validity of such effective theories for different models that are motivated, e.g., from the theory of ultracold atoms (the bosonic Hartree equation and the corresponding Bogoliubov theory) and from plasma physics (the motion of a tracer particle through a degenerate and dense electron gas). Starting from a many-body Schrödinger equation, our goal is to show that the solutions converge in a particular limit to the solutions to an effective mean field equation and its next-order corrections. After a short introduction and a summary in Chapter one, we present the main part of this work in three self-contained chapters. In Chapter two we analyze the dynamics of a large number N of nonrelativistic bosons in the weak coupling limit, i.e., for a coupling constant g_N=1/N. It is well known that in the limit of infinite particle number, the Hartree equation emerges as an effective one-particle theory of the Bose gas. This is closely related to the remarkable physical phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation at low temperature, namely that the majority of particles in a Bose gas occupies the same copy of a single one-particle quantum state. Our emphasis lies in the description of the few particles that fluctuate around the Bose-Einstein condensate. We show convergence of the fully interacting dynamics to an auxiliary time evolution in the norm of the N-particle space. This result allows us to prove several other assertions. Among other things, it is used to derive the Hartree equation with optimal speed of convergence 1/N for initial states that are close to ground states of interacting systems and also to prove convergence of the N-particle solution towards a time evolution obtained from the Bogoliubov Hamiltonian on Fock space. Chapter three is about the low energy properties of the weakly interacting homogeneous Bose gas. Here, we derive a novel estimate for low energy eigenfunctions stating that the probability for finding
l particles out of their total number N not in the condensate is exponentially small in the number
l. Using this bound, we then prove that the ground state wave function of the microscopic model satisfies certain quasifree type properties. The exponential decay is moreover used to provide an alternative proof for the validity of Bogoliubov's approximation for the low-lying energy eigenvalues. Bogoliubov theory states that the excitation energies of the Bose gas are given by excitations of free quasiparticles obeying an effective energy-momentum dispersion relation which is linear for small momentum. The linearity of the effective dispersion relation is an essential ingredient for the explanation of the superfluid character of the Bose gas. In Chapter four we study the time evolution of a single particle coupled through a pair potential to a dense and homogeneous ideal Fermi gas in two spatial dimensions. This type of model is well known in plasma physics where it is used to describe the energy loss of ions moving through a dense and degenerate electron gas. We analyze the model for a coupling parameter g=1 and prove closeness of the time evolution to an effective dynamics for large densities of the gas and for long time scales of the order of some power of the density. The effective dynamics is generated by the free Hamiltonian with a large but constant energy shift. To leading order, this energy shift is given by the spatially homogeneous mean field potential produced by the gas particles, whereas at next-to-leading order, one has to consider an additional correction to the mean field energy which is due to so-called recollision processes.
This thesis investigates the rigorous derivation of non-linear effective equations describing the time evolution of Bose-Einstein condensation from the N-particle linear Schrödinger equation, focusing on the one-particle reduced density matrix. The first chapter outlines the mathematical framework of many-body quantum mechanics, including the Fock space formalism. The second chapter studies the mean-field regime, proving that the condensed state converges to the non-linear Hartree equation by analyzing fluctuation dynamics to quantify the convergence rate. The third chapter addresses the physically realistic but mathematically challenging Gross-Pitaevskii regime, characterized by rare but strong interactions. Here, Bogoliubov transformations are used to capture crucial microscopic short-scale correlations, allowing for a quantitative derivation of the cubic non-linear Schrödinger equation. While the preceding chapters focus exclusively on repulsive interactions, the fourth chapter explores the focusing case with attractive potentials, which can lead to finite-time blow-up. Operating in an intermediate scaling regime, the effective focusing cubic non-linear Schrödinger equation is rigorously derived. Since the negative energy cannot bound many-body fluctuations, convergence is proven by approximating the dynamics via a quadratic Hamiltonian, in the spirit of Bogoliubov theory, and avoiding Grönwall estimates through the analysis of a coupled system of one-body linear equations for the one-particle density matrices.
This thesis proves certain results concerning an important question in non-equilibrium quantum statistical mechanics which is the derivation of effective evolution equations approximating the dynamics of a system of large number of bosons initially at equilibrium (ground state at very low temperatures). The dynamics of such systems are governed by the time-dependent linear many-body Schroedinger equation from which it is typically difficult to extract useful information due to the number of particles being large. We will study quantitatively (i.e. with explicit bounds on the error) how a suitable one particle non-linear Schroedinger equation arises in the mean field limit as number of particles N → ∞ and how the appropriate corrections to the mean field will provide better approximations of the exact dynamics. In the first part of this thesis we consider the evolution of N bosons, where N is large, with two-body interactions of the form N³ᵝv(Nᵝ⋅), 0≤β≤1. The parameter β measures the strength and the range of interactions. We compare the exact evolution with an approximation which considers the evolution of a mean field coupled with an appropriate description of pair excitations, see [18,19] by Grillakis-Machedon-Margetis. We extend the results for 0 ≤ β < 1/3 in [19, 20] to the case of β < 1/2 and obtain an error bound of the form p(t)/Nᵅ, where α>0 and p(t) is a polynomial, which implies a specific rate of convergence as N → ∞. In the second part, utilizing estimates of the type discussed in the first part, we compare the exact evolution with the mean field approximation in the sense of marginals. We prove that the exact evolution is close to the approximate in trace norm for times of the order o(1)√N compared to log(o(1)N) as obtained in Chen-Lee-Schlein [6] for the Hartree evolution. Estimates of similar type are obtained for stronger interactions as well.
In this thesis we study and characterize the behavior of Bose-Einstein condensates in a BJJ, using two different theoretical formalisms: the mean-field approximation (with the Gross-Pitaevskii equation) and many-body calculations (based on Bose-Hubbard models). \n\t\t\t\t With single-component Bose-Einstein condensates, we have focused on the study of the structure of the ground state as a function of the system parameters. We have looked for strongly correlated states, that cannot be described with mean-field theories, and we have proposed a variational wave function that captures the structure of the ground state for a broad interval of the system parameters. We have also studied the nonlinear effects of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, visible when atom-atom interactions are strong. \n\t\t\t\t In the case of binary mixtures of Bose-Einstein condensates we have performed an intensive study of the different regimes that can arise and in which conditions. The standard two-mode approximation is one of the most used in the study of the Josephson effect, as it gives simple analytic equations that capture, to a great extend, the behavior of the system. When the link between condensates is not weak enough, one has to consider a correction to this approximation, namely, the improved two-mode approximation. In this thesis, we have derived this last approximation for the binary mixture and we have checked its validity comparing it with numerical simulations of the three-dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Moreover, as the Josephson dynamics is almost one-dimensional, we have considered the two most common reductions of the dimensionality of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. In this case, we have also compared, using simulations, these one-dimensional reductions with the three-dimensional equation. \n\t\t\t\t We have also studied spinor condensates in an external BJJ. We have focused on condensates formed by atoms with spin
F=1, which can be in any of the three internal states
mF=0,pm1. Furthermore, in contrast to the binary mixture, spin interchange is allowed, so that the number of particles of each component becomes a dynamic variable. First, we have studied this system within the mean-field framework, using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. We have derived the two-mode approximation equations and we have focused in studying the decoupling of the Josephson effect and the population transfer dynamics. In this case, we also compare the results with numerical simulations of the three dimensional Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Second, we have studied the spinor BJJ using the Bose-Hubbard formalism, because some features of quantum fluctuations are better captured than with the mean-field. We have characterized the ground state, paying special attention to the regions where it is strongly correlated. We have seen how the spin singlet formation (strongly correlated state between two particles) affects the structure of the ground state. \n\n\t\t\t\t Finally, we have studied finite temperature effects on spinor Bose-Einstein condensates in the presence of a magnetic field, for two different cases. First, we have analyzed a condensate formed by
F=1 atoms with contact interactions. We have considered that the condensate was formed by atoms in the internal state
mF=0 and we have studied the dependence of the fluctuations of the other two components
mF=pm1 as a function of temperature. We have used the Bogoliubov formalism applied to an homogeneous system, and then, we have generalized the result to an harmonic trap by using the local density approximation. Second, we have studied a condensate formed by particles with
F=3 with contact interactions and moreover, dipolar interactions. In a similar way as the previous case, we consider that the condensate is formed by particles with
mF=−3 and we study the fluctuations in
mF=−2 and
mF=−3.
We consider the asymptotic behavior of a system of multi-component trapped bosons, when the total particle number [Formula: see text] becomes large. In the dilute regime, when the interaction potentials have the length scale of order [Formula: see text], we show that the leading order of the ground state energy is captured correctly by the Gross–Pitaevskii energy functional and that the many-body ground state fully condensates on the Gross–Pitaevskii minimizers. In the mean-field regime, when the interaction length scale is [Formula: see text], we are able to verify Bogoliubov’s approximation and obtain the second order expansion of the ground state energy. While such asymptotic results have several precursors in the literature on one-component condensates, the adaptation to the multi-component setting is non-trivial in various respects and the analysis will be presented in detail.