Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:cond-mat/0211115 · American Journal of Physics

Bose–Einstein condensation, fluctuations, and recurrence relations in statistical mechanics

W. J. Mullin, J. P. Fernández

Published Jun 11, 2003• 48 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We calculate certain features of Bose–Einstein condensation in the ideal gas by using recurrence relations for the partition function. The grand canonical ensemble gives inaccurate results for certain properties of the condensate that are accurately provided by the canonical ensemble. Calculations in the latter can be made tractable for finite systems by means of the recurrence relations. The ideal one-dimensional harmonic Bose gas provides a particularly simple and pedagogically useful model for which detailed results are easily derived. An analysis of the Bose system via permutation cycles yields insight into the physical meaning of the recurrence relations.

DOI
10.1119/1.1544520

Related papers

Grand-canonical condensate fluctuations in weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensates of light

Christoph Weiß, Jacques Tempere

Grand-canonical fluctuations of Bose-Einstein condensates of light are accessible to state-of-the-art experiments [J. Schmitt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 030401 (2014).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.112.030401]. We phenomenologically describe these fluctuations by using the grand-canonical ensemble for a weakly interacting Bose gas at thermal equilibrium. For a two-dimensional harmonic trap, we use two models for which the canonical partition functions of the weakly interacting Bose gas are given by exact recurrence relations. We find that the grand-canonical condensate fluctuations for weakly interacting Bose gases vanish at zero temperature, thus behaving qualitatively similarly to an ideal gas in the canonical ensemble (or microcanonical ensemble) rather than the grand-canonical ensemble. For low but finite temperatures, the fluctuations remain considerably higher than for the canonical ensemble, as predicted by the ideal gas in the grand-canonical ensemble, thus clearly showing that we are not in a regime in which the ensembles are equivalent.

arXiv:1511.03064•Physical review. E•Oct 19, 2016•15 citations

From number theory to statistical mechanics: Bose-Einstein condensation in isolated traps

Siegfried Großmann, Martin Holthaus

We question the validity of the grand canonical ensemble for the description of Bose-Einstein condensation of small ideal Bose gas samples in isolated harmonic traps. While the ground state fraction and the specific heat capacity can be well approximated with the help of the conventional grand canonical arguments, the calculation of the fluctuation of the number of particles contained in the condensate requires a microcanonical approach. Resorting to the theory of restricted partitions of integer numbers, we present analytical and numerical results for such fluctuations in one- and three-dimensional traps, and show that their magnitude is essentially independent of the total particle number.

arXiv:cond-mat/9709045•Sep 4, 1997•10 citations

On the Bose – Einstein condensate partition function for an ideal gas

Evgenii Dmitrievich Trifonov, S. N. Zagoulaev

Recursive approaches determining the canonical ideal Bose gas partition function are reviewed that enable the Bose–Einstein condensate occupation probability to be calculated for a finite number of particles ensemble, where the thermodynamic limit approximation fails. In addition to the earlier known method recursive with respect to the number of particles, an iteration procedure with respect to the number of quantum states is proposed. The efficiency of both methods is demonstrated for an ideal Bose gas in a three-dimensional isotropic harmonic trap.

Physics-Uspekhi•Jan 31, 2010•11 citations

Bose-Einstein condensation of ideal Bose gases under external conditions

Klaus Kirsten

This chapter focuses on the applications involving finite temperature theories. Technically, the grand canonical partition function is easiest to handle and in general it is the one used for the analysis of the thermodynamical properties. In fact, for properties like the energy and the specific heat of the gas this is justified because in the thermodynamical limit the different ensembles are known to give the same answer. The chapter uses the grand canonical ensemble to obtain properties like critical temperature, energy and specific heat. It summarizes the grand canonical description of ideal Bose gases trapped by magnetic fields and describes the formulation of Bose-Einstein condensation as a symmetry-breaking phenomenon.

Chapman & Hall/CRC eBooks•Dec 13, 2001•0 citations

Bose-Einstein condensation in the canonical ensemble

D. K. Sunko

A simple description of Bose-Einstein condensation for non-interacting bosons is provided, based on an easily derived quantum correction to the canonical partition function. It is distinguished by the explicit appearance of the factor N !, which enhances the classical probability of finding bosons in the same state, and an elementary demonstration, that the transition should be sharper in temperature as the number of particles in the system increases. The reasoning is made explicit for the usual example of the ideal-gas dispersion.

European Journal of Physics•Jun 19, 2000•0 citations

The Bose-Einstein condensation in a finite one-dimensional homogeneous system of noninteracting bosons

В. А. Алексеев

Condensation of the ideal Bose gas in a closed volume having the shape of a rectangular parallel-epiped of length L with a square base of side length l ( L ≫ l ) is theoretically studied within the framework of the Bose-Einstein statistics (grand canonical ensemble) and within the statistics of a canonical ensemble of bosons. Under the condition N ( l/L ) 4 ≪ l, where N is the total number of gas particles, dependence of the average number of particles in the condensate on the temperature T in both statistics is expressed as a function of the ratio t = T/T 1 , where T 1 is a certain characteristic temperature depending only on the longitudinal size L . Therefore, the condensation process exhibits a one-dimensional (1D) character. In the 1D regime, the average numbers of particles in condensates of the grand canonical and canonical ensembles coincide only in the limiting cases of t → 0 and t → ∞. The distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons at t ≤1 has a resonance shape and qualitatively differs from the Bose-Einstein distribution. The former distribution begins to change in the region of t ∼ 1 and acquires the shape of the Bose-Einstein distribution for t ≫ 1. This transformation proceeds gradually that is, the 1D condensation process exhibits no features characteristic of the phase transition in a 3D system. For N ( l/L ) 4 ≫ 1, the process acquires a 3D character with respect to the average number of particles in the condensate, but the 1D character of the distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons is retained at all N values.

Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics•Jun 1, 2002•2 citations
We calculate certain features of Bose–Einstein condensation in the ideal gas by using recurrence relations for the partition function. The grand canonical ensemble gives inaccurate results for certain properties of the condensate that are accurately provided by the canonical ensemble. Calculations in the latter can be made tractable for finite systems by means of the recurrence relations. The ideal one-dimensional harmonic Bose gas provides a particularly simple and pedagogically useful model for which detailed results are easily derived. An analysis of the Bose system via permutation cycles yields insight into the physical meaning of the recurrence relations.
Grand-canonical fluctuations of Bose-Einstein condensates of light are accessible to state-of-the-art experiments [J. Schmitt et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 030401 (2014).PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.112.030401]. We phenomenologically describe these fluctuations by using the grand-canonical ensemble for a weakly interacting Bose gas at thermal equilibrium. For a two-dimensional harmonic trap, we use two models for which the canonical partition functions of the weakly interacting Bose gas are given by exact recurrence relations. We find that the grand-canonical condensate fluctuations for weakly interacting Bose gases vanish at zero temperature, thus behaving qualitatively similarly to an ideal gas in the canonical ensemble (or microcanonical ensemble) rather than the grand-canonical ensemble. For low but finite temperatures, the fluctuations remain considerably higher than for the canonical ensemble, as predicted by the ideal gas in the grand-canonical ensemble, thus clearly showing that we are not in a regime in which the ensembles are equivalent.
We question the validity of the grand canonical ensemble for the description of Bose-Einstein condensation of small ideal Bose gas samples in isolated harmonic traps. While the ground state fraction and the specific heat capacity can be well approximated with the help of the conventional grand canonical arguments, the calculation of the fluctuation of the number of particles contained in the condensate requires a microcanonical approach. Resorting to the theory of restricted partitions of integer numbers, we present analytical and numerical results for such fluctuations in one- and three-dimensional traps, and show that their magnitude is essentially independent of the total particle number.
Recursive approaches determining the canonical ideal Bose gas partition function are reviewed that enable the Bose–Einstein condensate occupation probability to be calculated for a finite number of particles ensemble, where the thermodynamic limit approximation fails. In addition to the earlier known method recursive with respect to the number of particles, an iteration procedure with respect to the number of quantum states is proposed. The efficiency of both methods is demonstrated for an ideal Bose gas in a three-dimensional isotropic harmonic trap.
This chapter focuses on the applications involving finite temperature theories. Technically, the grand canonical partition function is easiest to handle and in general it is the one used for the analysis of the thermodynamical properties. In fact, for properties like the energy and the specific heat of the gas this is justified because in the thermodynamical limit the different ensembles are known to give the same answer. The chapter uses the grand canonical ensemble to obtain properties like critical temperature, energy and specific heat. It summarizes the grand canonical description of ideal Bose gases trapped by magnetic fields and describes the formulation of Bose-Einstein condensation as a symmetry-breaking phenomenon.
A simple description of Bose-Einstein condensation for non-interacting bosons is provided, based on an easily derived quantum correction to the canonical partition function. It is distinguished by the explicit appearance of the factor N !, which enhances the classical probability of finding bosons in the same state, and an elementary demonstration, that the transition should be sharper in temperature as the number of particles in the system increases. The reasoning is made explicit for the usual example of the ideal-gas dispersion.
Condensation of the ideal Bose gas in a closed volume having the shape of a rectangular parallel-epiped of length L with a square base of side length l ( L ≫ l ) is theoretically studied within the framework of the Bose-Einstein statistics (grand canonical ensemble) and within the statistics of a canonical ensemble of bosons. Under the condition N ( l/L ) 4 ≪ l, where N is the total number of gas particles, dependence of the average number of particles in the condensate on the temperature T in both statistics is expressed as a function of the ratio t = T/T 1 , where T 1 is a certain characteristic temperature depending only on the longitudinal size L . Therefore, the condensation process exhibits a one-dimensional (1D) character. In the 1D regime, the average numbers of particles in condensates of the grand canonical and canonical ensembles coincide only in the limiting cases of t → 0 and t → ∞. The distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons at t ≤1 has a resonance shape and qualitatively differs from the Bose-Einstein distribution. The former distribution begins to change in the region of t ∼ 1 and acquires the shape of the Bose-Einstein distribution for t ≫ 1. This transformation proceeds gradually that is, the 1D condensation process exhibits no features characteristic of the phase transition in a 3D system. For N ( l/L ) 4 ≫ 1, the process acquires a 3D character with respect to the average number of particles in the condensate, but the 1D character of the distribution function of the number of particles in the condensate of a canonical ensemble of bosons is retained at all N values.