Cambridge University Press eBooks
Quantum Gases
J. R. Dorfman, Henk van Beijeren, T. R. Kirkpatrick
Abstract
At low temperatures the De Broglie wavelength of the gas particles becomes on the order of their average separation, and the effects of their indistinguishability become important. In the absence of a phase transition in the gas, the quantum mechanical Wigner distribution function for a dilute gas of fermions or bosons satisfies the Uehling-Uhlenbeck equation. This equation satisfies an H- theorem with equilibrium solutions being ideal boson or ideal fermion distributions. Navier-Stokes equations can be derived by standard methods. A low temperature gas of weakly interacting bosons undergoes a Bose-Einstein condensation with a macroscopically occupied ground state. A different approach is required to describe the non-equilibrium processes in such a situation. A kinetic equation can be derived for the Bogoliubov excitations in the gas at very low temperatures. The associated hydrodynamic equations are the Landau-Khaltnikov, two fluid equations, and explicit expressions are obtained for the six associated transport coefficients.