ERIC Number: EJ963899
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Nov
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0143-0807
EISSN: N/A
Approaching Bose-Einstein Condensation
Ferrari, Loris
European Journal of Physics, v32 n6 p1547-1557 Nov 2011
Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) is discussed at the level of an advanced course of statistical thermodynamics, clarifying some formal and physical aspects that are usually not covered by the standard pedagogical literature. The non-conventional approach adopted starts by showing that the continuum limit, in certain cases, cancels out the crucial role of the bosonic ground level. If so, a correct treatment of the problem, including the ground level population "N[subscript 0]" by construction, leads to BEC in a straightforward way. For a density of states of the form G([image omitted])[image omitted], the chemical potential [mu] is explicitly calculated as a function of the temperature "T" and of the number "N" of bosons, for various significant values of the positive exponent y. In the thermodynamic limit, in which the boson number "N" diverges and BEC is a sharp process, the chemical potential [mu] is a singular function of "T" at the critical temperature TB, determined by an appropriate critical exponent. The condensate population "N[subscript 0]" is studied analytically and numerically as a function of the temperature, for various values of "N" and for different y. This provides an accurate description of the way BEC approaches the character of a sharp phase transition. Some aspects of the real experiments on BEC, involving a finite number of bosons, are also illustrated. (Contains 2 figures and 5 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Advanced Courses, Thermodynamics, Scientific Concepts, Statistics, Correlation, Experiments, Physics
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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