It is shown that the lack of condensation in partially finite geometries is not dependent on the use of periodic boundary conditions or the symmetry-breaking technique for a class of independent-particle Bose-gas models. Condensation in an ideal Bose gas in a finite geometry is studied for one-, two-, and three-dimensional systems. Explicit expressions for the chemical potential in terms of the number of particles, the temperature, and the dimensions of the system are obtained by using a contour-integration technique to express sums as integrals plus corrections. Even though there is no true condensation, the range of the reduced density matrix for an ideal Bose gas in a thick slab (${L}_{1}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{L}_{2}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{L}_{3}$ with
L1, ${L}_{2}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}\ensuremath{\infty}$ and $\ensuremath{\infty}>{L}_{3}\ensuremath{\gg}{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{T}=\mathrm{the}\mathrm{thermal}\mathrm{wavelength}$) is found to go from order $\frac{{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{T}{T}_{\mathrm{cB}}}{(T\ensuremath{-}{T}_{\mathrm{cB}})}$ to order ${L}_{3}\mathrm{exp}{\frac{1}{2}\sqrt{\ensuremath{\pi}}{\ensuremath{\zeta}}_{\frac{3}{2}}(\frac{{L}_{3}}{{\ensuremath{\lambda}}_{T}})[{(\frac{{T}_{\mathrm{cB}}}{T})}^{\frac{3}{2}}\ensuremath{-}1]}$ as the temperature is lowered through the bulk critical temperature ${T}_{\mathrm{cB}}\ifmmode\cdot\else\textperiodcentered\fi{}({\ensuremath{\zeta}}_{\ensuremath{\chi}} \mathrm{is}\mathrm{the}\mathrm{Riemann} \ensuremath{\zeta} \mathrm{function}.)$ The range exhibits a spatial asymmetry. The onset of this extremely long-range order is found to be reflected in PVT diagrams and the specific heat in a manner very similar to that in bulk condensation. It is conjectured that in calculations for infinite systems the existence of a long- but finite-range order may be a more relevant criterion for superfluidity and superconductivity than the usual criterion of an infinitely long-range order.
The kinetics of the formation of coherent correlation properties associated with Bose condensation is studied in detail. The evolution of a nonequilibrium state with no “condensate-seed” is related to a hierarchy of relaxation times. At the first stage, a particle flux in energy space toward low energies sets in. The evolution in this case is described by a nonlinear Boltzmann equation, with a characteristic time given by interparticle collisions. When the particles which will later form the condensate have a kinetic energy which is less than the potential energy, a quasicondensate starts to form. In this stage, fluctuations of the density (but not of the phase) are suppressed and short-range coherent correlation properties are governed by the equation of motion for a quasiclassical complex field. The next stage is connected with the formation of the long-range order. The time for forming topological order and therefore genuine superfluidity proves to be dependent on the system size. The off-diagonal long-range order, arising after the attenuation of long-wave phase fluctuations, has a size-dependent relaxation time as well. Introduction The problem of Bose–Einstein Condensation (BEC) kinetics, being interesting in itself, has acquired a special significance in connection with experimental efforts to observe this condensation in a number of systems with particles with a finite lifetime. Such systems include spin-polarized atomic hydrogen [1], excitons [2] and biexcitons [3] in semiconductors and, more recently, laser-cooled atomic systems [4].
We investigate spatial entanglement---particle-number entanglement between regions of space---in an ideal bosonic gas. We quantify the amount of spatial entanglement around the transition temperature for condensation
(TC) by probing the gas with two localized two-level systems. We show that spatial entanglement in the gas is directly related to filling of the ground-state energy level and therefore to the off-diagonal long-range order of the system and the onset of condensation.