We revisit an inequality due to Onsager, which states that the (quantum) liquid structure factor has an upper bound of the form (const) × |k|, for not too large modulus of the wave vector k. This inequality implies the validity of the Landau criterion in the theory of superfluidity with a definite, nonzero critical velocity. We prove an auxiliary proposition for general Bose systems, together with which we arrive at a rigorous proof of the inequality for one of the very few solvable examples of an interacting Bose fluid, Girardeau’s model. The latter proof demonstrates the importance of the thermodynamic limit of the structure factor, which must be taken initially at k = 0. It also substantiates very well the heuristic density functional arguments, which are also shown to hold exactly in the limit of large wavelengths. We also briefly discuss which features of the proof may be present in higher dimensions, as well as some open problems related to superfluidity of trapped gases. PACS numbers: 67.40.−w, 67.40.Db 1.
We revisit an inequality due to Onsager, which states that the (quantum) liquid structure factor has an upper bound of the form (const) × |k|, for not too large modulus of the wave vector k. This inequality implies the validity of the Landau criterion in the theory of superfluidity with a definite, nonzero critical velocity. We prove an auxiliary proposition for general Bose systems, together with which we arrive at a rigorous proof of the inequality for one of the very few solvable examples of an interacting Bose fluid, Girardeau’s model. The latter proof demonstrates the importance of the thermodynamic limit of the structure factor, which must be taken initially at k = 0. It also substantiates very well the heuristic density functional arguments, which are also shown to hold exactly in the limit of large wavelengths. We also briefly discuss which features of the proof may be present in higher dimensions, as well as some open problems related to superfluidity of trapped gases. PACS numbers: 67.40.−w, 67.40.Db 1.
We revisit an inequality due to Onsager, which states that the (quantum) liquid structure factor has an upper bound of the form (const.) x |k|, for not too large modulus of the wave vector k. This inequality implies the validity of the Landau criterion in the theory of superfluidity with a definite, nonzero critical velocity. We prove an auxiliary proposition for general Bose systems, together with which we arrive at a rigorous proof of the inequality for one of the very few soluble examples of an interacting Bose fluid, Girardeau's model. The latter proof demonstrates the importance of the thermodynamic limit of the structure factor, which must be taken initially at k different from 0. It also substantiates very well the heuristic density functional arguments, which are also shown to hold exactly in the limit of large wave-lengths. We also briefly discuss which features of the proof may be present in higher dimensions, as well as some open problems related to superfluidity of trapped gases.
This lecture describes certain properties of interacting Bose gases and superconductors which have recently been considered at Harvard. It is a brief resumé of work by the lecturer, P.C. Hohenberg, A. Fetter, R. Lange, and C. De Dominicis, which will be reported in mathematical detail elsewhere. It concerns attempts to derive from fundamental principles, several aspects of the macroscopic two-fluid model of London, Landau, and Tisza, the Landau phonon spectrum for bosons, and the structured condensate envisaged by Onsager and Feynman. The lecture describes new results which have been obtained concerning: (1) methods for calculating properties of large, but not necessarily infinite, condensed systems at finite temperatures; (2) methods for performing calculations in boson systems consistent with current conservation and sum rules; (3) results obtained by these methods for the phonon spectrum; (4) more accurate results for the less physical single-particle spectrum at finite temperatures; (5) results obtained for the macroscopically structured condensate in rotating systems which agree with the macroscopically inferred results of Feynman and Onsager; (6) results which treat depletion of the condensate as a result of interaction consistently and verify that nonetheless, the superfluid density, as operationally determined, is not correspondingly depleted; (7) methods in which the entropy plays a central role, for casting the macroscopic theory in a form which lays stress on the renormalized excitations of renormalized interactions; (8) the almost identical features of the mathematics for condensed Fermi and Bose systems; (9) a restatement, in this microscopic transcription, of the Feynman-Onsager argument for flux and vorticity quantization.
The two-fluid and Landau criteria for superfluidity are compared for trapped Bose gases. While the two-fluid criterion predicts translational superfluidity, it is suggested, on the basis of the homogeneous Gross–Pitaevski limit, that a necessary part of Landau's criterion, adequate for non-translationally invariant systems, does not hold for trapped Bose gases in the GP limit. As a consequence, if the compressibility is detected to be very large (infinite by experimental standards), the two-fluid criterion is seen to be the relevant one in case the system is a translational superfluid, while the Landau criterion is the relevant one if translational superfluidity is absent.
The flow of a uniform Bose gas at speeds greater than the Landau critical velocity vc does not necessarily destroy superfluidity, but rather needs only to lead to a decrease of the superfluid mass density ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$. Analyzing a weakly interacting Bose gas with a finite-range interparticle interaction that leads to a Landau critical velocity at nonzero quasiparticle momentum, we explicitly construct the (nonuniform) condensate for fluid flow faster than vc and calculate the accompanying decrease in ${\ensuremath{\rho}}_{s}$. We briefly comment on the relation of the physics to other problems in superfluids, e.g., solitons and vortices in Bose-Einstein condensates, and critical currents in superconductors.
While the one-dimensional (1D) Bose gas appears to exhibit superfluid response under certain conditions, it fails the Landau criterion according to the elementary excitation spectrum calculated by Lieb. The apparent riddle is solved by calculating the dynamic structure factor of the Lieb-Liniger 1D Bose gas. In a dual representation, strongly interacting bosons are mapped into weakly interacting fermions, which are treated in the Hartree-Fock and generalized random-phase approximations. The dynamic structure factor is calculated analytically in this approximation, which is valid to first order in $1∕\ensuremath{\gamma}$, where $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ is the dimensionless interaction strength of the model. The results clearly indicate a suppression of superfluidity-breaking umklapp excitations near the Tonks-gas limit, which should be observable by Bragg scattering in current experiments.
In this chapter, we review the famous Landau theory of superfluidity at finite temperatures. This theory is based on coupled hydrodynamic equations for the superfluid and normal fluid components. Landau's two-fluid description is only valid when collisions among the thermal excitations making up the normal fluid are strong enough to produce local hydrodynamic equilibrium. These two-fluid equations were originally developed for liquid. He but are thought to be generic in form, describing the collision-dominated hydrodynamic region of all Bose superfluids. In this chapter, we will consider the solutions of the two-fluid equations mainly for a uniform superfluid. We discuss the existence of second sound (involving the out-of-phase motion of the superfluid and normal fluid components) as a characteristic feature of a Bose superfluid at finite temperatures. This chapter gives background material needed for Chapters 15–19. In Chapter 15, we will show that, in the appropriate limit, the Landau two-fluid equations can be derived from the ZNG coupled equations given in Chapter 3 for a trapped dilute Bose-condensed gas. In Chapters 17–19, we extend this discussion and derive the Landau–Khalatnikov two-fluid equations, which include hydrodynamic damping associated with various transport coefficients. Useful reviews of the two-fluid equations in the context of dilute spatially uniform Bose-condensed gases are given by Pethick and Smith (2008, Chapter 10) and Pitaevskii and Stringari (2003, Chapter 6). History of two-fluid equations The original discovery of superfluidity in liquid He was dramatically announced with the publication of the famous back-to-back papers of Kapitza (1938) in Moscow and Allen and Misener (1938) in Cambridge. These and subsequent experiments in the next few years showed that superfluid He could exhibit very bizarre hydrodynamic behaviour compared to classical liquids.