Bose-Einstein condensation and the $λ$-transition are described in molecular detail for bosons interacting with a pair potential. New phenomena are identified that are absent in the usual ideal gas treatment. Monte Carlo simulations of Lennard-Jones helium-4 neglecting ground momentum state bosons give a diverging heat capacity approaching the transition. Pure permutation loops give continuous growth in the occupancy of the ground momentum state. Mixed ground and excited momentum state permutation loops give a discontinuous transition to the condensed phase. The consequent latent heat for the $λ$-transition is 3\% of the total energy. The predicted critical velocity for superfluid flow is within a factor of three of the measured values over three orders of magnitude in pore diameter.
There is a long standing problem about how close a connection exists between superfluidity and Bose condensation. Employing recent technology, for the case of confined finite Bose condensed systems in TOP traps, these questions concerning superfluidity and Bose condensation can be partially resolved if the velocity profile of the trapped atoms can be directly measured.
Low temperature properties of harmonically confined two-dimensional assemblies of dipolar bosons are systematically investigated by Monte Carlo simulations. Calculations carried out for different numbers of particles and strengths of the confining potential yield evidence of a quantum phase transition from a superfluid to a crystal-like phase, consistently with what is observed in the ho- mogeneous system. It is found that the crystal phase nucleates in the center of the trap, as the density increases. Bose-Einstein condensation vanishes at T = 0 upon entering the crystalline phase, concurrent…
The hardcore-Bose-Hubbard model with random chemical potential is investigated using quantum Monte Carlo simulation. We consider two cases of random distribution of the chemical potential: a uniformly random distribution and a correlated distribution. The temperature dependences of the superfluid density, the specific heat, and the correlation functions are calculated. If the distribution of the randomness is correlated, there exists an intermediate state, which can be thought of as a localized condensate state of bosons, between the superfluid state and the normal state.
The onset mechanism of superfluidity is examined by taking the case of the capillary flow of liquid helium 4. In the capillary flow, a substantial fall of the shear viscosity has been observed in the normal phase (lambda point<T<3.7K). In this temperature region, under the strong influence of Bose statistics, the coherent many-body wave function grows to an intermediate size between a macroscopic and a microscopic one, which is different from thermal fluctuation. We consider such a capillary flow by including it to a general picture that includes the flow of rotating helium 4 as well. Using th…
The gradual fall of the shear viscosity below 2.8K, observed in a liquid helium 4 flowing through a capillary, is examined. The disappearance of the shear viscosity in a capillary flow is a manifestation of superfluidity in dissipative phenomena, the onset mechanism of which is a subtle problem compared to that of superfluidity in non-dissipative phenomena. Applying the linear-response theory to the reciprocal of the shear viscosity coefficient, we relate these two types of superfluidity using the Kramers-Kronig relation. We obtain a formula describing the influence of Bose statistics on the k…
The superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation of indirect excitons in two-dimensional quantum dot are studied by path-integral Monte Carlo simulations. The temperature dependence of superfluid and bose-condensed fraction are calculated at different strengths of interaction. Using the Kosterlitz-Thouless recursion relations, we also predict behavior of superfluid fraction in macroscopic large systems.
Fluids of exciton-polaritons, excitations of two dimensional quantum wells in optical cavities, show collective phenomena akin to Bose condensation. However, a fundamental difference from standard condensates stems from the finite life-time of these excitations, which necessitate continuous driving to maintain a steady state. A basic question is whether a two dimensional condensate with long range algebraic correlations can exist under these non-equilibrium conditions. Here we show that such driven two-dimensional Bose systems cannot exhibit algebraic superfluid order except in low-symmetry, a…
A quantitative analysis of the process of condensation of bosons both in harmonic traps and in gases is made resorting to two ingredients only: Bose classical distribution and spectral discretness. It is shown that in order to take properly into account statistical correlations, temperature must be defined from first principles, based on Shannon entropy, and turns out to be equal to $β^{-1}$ only for $T > T_c$ where the usual results are recovered. Below $T_c$ a new critical temperature $T_d$ is found, where the specific heat exhibits a sharp spike, similar to the $λ$-peak of superfluidity.
We have observed Bose-Einstein condensation of molecules. When a spin mixture of fermionic Li-6 atoms was evaporatively cooled in an optical dipole trap near a Feshbach resonance, the atomic gas was converted into Li_2 molecules. Below 600 nK, a Bose-Einstein condensate of up to 900,000 molecules was identified by the sudden onset of a bimodal density distribution. This condensate realizes the limit of tightly bound fermion pairs in the crossover between BCS superfluidity and Bose-Einstein condensation.
This book surveys results about the quantum mechanical many-body problem of the Bose gas that have been obtained by the authors over the last seven years. These topics are relevant to current experiments on ultra-cold gases; they are also mathematically rigorous, using many analytic techniques developed over the years to handle such problems. Some of the topics treated are the ground state energy, the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, Bose-Einstein condensation, superfluidity, one-dimensional gases, and rotating gases. The book also provides a pedagogical entry into the field for graduate students an…
We discuss thermal and dynamical properties of Bose condensates confined by an external potential. First we analyze the Bose-Einstein transition temperature for an ideal Bose gas in a generic power-law potential and d-dimensional space. Then we investigate the effect of the shape of the trapping potential on the properties of a weakly-interacting Bose condensate. We show that using exotic trapping potentials the condensate can exhibit interesting coherent quantum phenomena, like superfluidity and tunneling. In particular, we consider toroidal and double-well potentials. The theoretical results…
We derive, through analysis of the structure of diagrammatic perturbation theory, the scaling behavior of the condensate and superfluid mass density of a dilute Bose gas just below the condensation transition. Sufficiently below the critical temperature, $T_c$, the system is governed by the mean field (Bogoliubov) description of the particle excitations. Close to $T_c$, however, mean field breaks down and the system undergoes a second order phase transition, rather than the first order transition predicted in Bogoliubov theory. Both condensation and superfluidity occur at the same critical tem…
The realization of fermionic superfluidity in a dilute gas of atoms, analogous to superconductivity in metals, is a long-standing goal of ultracold gas research. Beyond being a new example of this fascinating quantum phenomenon, fermionic superfluidity in an atomic gas holds the promise of adjustable interactions and the ability to tune continuously from BCS-type superfluidity to Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). This crossover between BCS superfluidity of correlated atom pairs in momentum space and BEC of local pairs has long been of theoretical interest, motivated in part by the discovery of…
The Bose-Einstein condensation of vacancies in a three-dimensional decorated lattice is considered. The model describes possible scenario of superfluidity of solid helium, caused by the presence of zero-point vacancies in a dislocation network. It is shown that the temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation decreases under increase of the length of the segments of the network, and the law of decrease depends essentially on the properties of the vertexes of the network. If the vertexes correspond to barriers with a small transparency, the critical temperature is inversely as the square of the le…
A quantitative description of the whole process of condensation of bosons in an harmonic trap is given resorting only to Gibbs and Bose postulates, without assuming equipartition nor continuum statistics. Below Tc discrete spectrum theory predicts for the thermo-dynamical variables a behavior different from the continuum case. In particular a new critical temperature is found where the specific heat exhibits a lambda-like spike. Numerical values of the relevant quantities depend on the experimental set-up. The theory does not take into account collective effects in the ground state.
We study the superfluid properties of a system of interacting bosons on a lattice which, moreover, are coupled to the vibrational modes of this lattice, treated here in terms of Einstein phonon model. The ground state corresponds to two correlated condensates: that of the bosons and that of the phonons. Two competing effects determine the common collective soundwave-like mode with sound velocity $v$, arising from gauge symmetry breaking: i) The sound velocity $v_0$ (corresponding to a weakly interacting Bose system on a rigid lattice) in the lowest order approximation is reduced due to reducti…
Guided by the analogy to the Bose-Einstein condensation of the ideal Bose gas (IBG) we propose a new model for the lambda transition of liquid helium. Deviating from the IBG our model uses phase ordered and localized single-particle functions. This means that finite groups of particles are assumed to be phase-locked. These phase correlations can be related to the singularity at the transition point and to the occurrence of the superfluid density. The model leads to the following results: 1. A possible explanation of the logarithmic singularity of the specific heat. 2. A characteristic function…
Motivated by recent experiments on possible supersolid behavior of $^4$He solids at low temperature, we consider a model of superfluidity in a defected solid containing a system spaning network of correlated linear dislocations, or planar grain boundaries. Using arguments based on the Harris criterion, as well as numerical simulations, we find that such correlated quenched disorder shifts the familiar superfluid lambda transition to a new disordered universality class in which the correlation length exponent $ν\ge 1$. This results in the temperature-derivates for the superfluid density, $dρ_{\…
We extend the self-consistent Hartree-Fock-Popov calculations by Nikuni et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 5868 (2000)] concerning the Bose-Eistein condensation of magnons in TlCuCl3 to include a realistic dispersion of the excitations. The result for the critical field as a function of temperature behaves as Hc(T)-Hc(0) T^{3/2} below 2K but deviates from this simple power-law at higher temperature and is in very good agreement with the experimental results. The specific heat is computed as a function of temperature for different values of the magnetic field. It shows a lambda-like shape at the tran…
