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arXiv:cond-mat/0601408 · Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

From a nonlinear string to a weakly interacting Bose gas

Emilia Witkowska, Mariusz Gajda, Jan Mostowski

Published Mar 26, 2007• 4 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to provide a deeper physical understanding of the classical field method—a method that is widely and successfully used for description of the atomic Bose–Einstein condensates at finite temperatures. To this end, we start with a genuine nonlinear classical system—interacting oscillators. We investigate the dynamics and show that the system approaches thermal equilibrium. We show that extra assumptions are necessary to interpret the results in quantum terms. The quantum interpretation is inevitably related to the cut-off of high momenta modes. A proper choice of the cut-off momentum is equivalent to the introduction of the Planck constant. The presented approach sheds more light on the foundations of the classical field method.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/40/8/001

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The main goal of this paper is to provide a deeper physical understanding of the classical field method—a method that is widely and successfully used for description of the atomic Bose–Einstein condensates at finite temperatures. To this end, we start with a genuine nonlinear classical system—interacting oscillators. We investigate the dynamics and show that the system approaches thermal equilibrium. We show that extra assumptions are necessary to interpret the results in quantum terms. The quantum interpretation is inevitably related to the cut-off of high momenta modes. A proper choice of the cut-off momentum is equivalent to the introduction of the Planck constant. The presented approach sheds more light on the foundations of the classical field method.
The classical-field approximation to cold weakly interacting bosons allows for a unified treatment of condensed and uncondensed parts of the system. Until now, however, the quantitative predictions were limited by a dependence of the results on a grid chosen for numerical implementation of the method. In this paper, we propose replacing this unphysical ambiguity by an additional postulate: the temperature of the gas at thermal equilibrium should be the same as that of an ideal Bose gas with the same fraction of condensed atoms. As it turns out, with this additional assumption, nearly all atoms are within the classical fields, thus the method applies to the whole system.
The classical-field formalism has been widely applied in the calculation of normal correlation functions, and the characterization of condensation, in finite-temperature Bose gases. Here we discuss the extension of this method to the calculation of more general correlations, including the so-called anomalous correlations of the field, without recourse to symmetry-breaking assumptions. Our method is based on the introduction of U(1)\mathrm{U}(1)U(1)-symmetric classical-field variables analogous to the modified quantum ladder operators of number-conserving approaches to the degenerate Bose gas, and allows us to rigorously quantify the anomalous and non-Gaussian character of the field fluctuations. We compare our results for anomalous correlation functions with the predictions of mean-field theories, and demonstrate that the nonlinear classical-field dynamics incorporate a full description of many-body processes which modify the effective mean-field potentials experienced by condensate and noncondensate atoms. We discuss the role of these processes in shaping the condensate mode, and thereby demonstrate the consistency of the Penrose-Onsager definition of the condensate orbital in the classical-field equilibrium. We consider the contribution of various noncondensate-field correlations to the overall suppression of density fluctuations and interactions in the field, and demonstrate the distinct roles of phase and density fluctuations in the transition of the field to the normal phase.
We review our version of the classical field approximation to the dynamics of a finite temperature Bose gas. In the case of a periodic box potential, we investigate the role of the high momentum cut-off, essential in the method. In particular, we show that the cut-off going to infinity limit decribes the particle number going to infinity with the scattering length going to zero. In this weak interaction limit, the relative population of the condensate tends to unity. We also show that the cross-over energy, at which the probability distribution of the condensate occupation changes its character, grows with a growing scattering length. In the more physical case of the condensate in the harmonic trap we investigate the dissipative dynamics of a vortex. We compare the decay time and the velocities of the vortex with the available analytic estimates.
The theory of open quantum systems is central to describing the dynamics and equilibration of dilute-gas Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs). We present an analysis of the linearized stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (SPGPE) describing finite-temperature BECs. Our treatment provides an optimal choice for the cutoff that divides the Bose gas into the low-energy coherent region forming a classical wave and the high-energy thermal cloud treated as a reservoir. Moreover, it highlights the relevance of energy damping, the number-conserving scattering between thermal and coherent atoms. We analyze the equilibrium properties and near-equilibrium relaxation of a homogeneous BEC in one, two, and three dimensions at high phase-space density and calculate the autocorrelation function and power spectrum of the density and phase fluctuations. Simulations of the full nonlinear SPGPE are in close agreement and extend our arguments beyond the linear regime. Our work suggests the need for a reexamination of decay processes in BECs studied under the neglect of energy damping.
In this tutorial we present an introduction to some theoretical methods of quantum field theory applied to the description of a trapped Bose–Einstein condensate. First of all, we give a brief account of the main characteristics of the phenomenon of condensation and present the many-body Hamiltonian of the system. We outline some of the most important approaches used in the characterization of a condensed Bose gas, including the mean-field theory and the Hartree–Fock–Bogoliubov method. Finally we illustrate the use of these techniques addressing some important issues in quantum atom optics. We characterize the quantum state of a Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) at zero temperature. We also describe a process of Beliaev coupling between quasiparticles using a method that includes terms beyond the usual Bogoliubov approach.