The non-interacting Bose gas

Abstract

The topic of Bose–Einstein condensation in a uniform, non-interacting gas of bosons is treated in most textbooks on statistical mechanics. In the present chapter we discuss the properties of a non-interacting Bose gas in a trap. We shall calculate equilibrium properties of systems in a semi-classical approximation, in which the energy spectrum is treated as a continuum. For this approach to be valid the temperature must be large compared with Δ∊/ k , where Δ∊ denotes the separation between neighbouring energy levels. As is well known, at temperatures below the Bose–Einstein condensation temperature, the lowest-energy state is not properly accounted for if one simply replaces sums by integrals, and it must be included explicitly. The statistical distribution function is discussed in Sec. 2.1, as is the single-particle density of states, which is a key ingredient in the calculations of thermodynamic properties. Calculations of the transition temperature and the fraction of particles in the condensate are described in Sec. 2.2. In Sec. 2.3 the semi-classical distribution function is introduced. From this we obtain the density profile and the velocity distribution of particles, and use these to determine the shape of an anisotropic cloud after free expansion. Thermodynamic properties of Bose gases are calculated as functions of the temperature in Sec. 2.4. Finally, Sec. 2.5 treats corrections to the transition temperature due to a finite particle number.