The thermodynamic limit of an ideal Bose gas by asymptotic expansions and spectral ζ-functions

Abstract

We analyze the thermodynamic limit—modeled as the open-trap limit of an isotropic harmonic potential—of an ideal, non-relativistic Bose gas with a special emphasis on the phenomenon of Bose–Einstein condensation. This is accomplished by the use of an asymptotic expansion of the grand potential, which is derived by ζ-regularization techniques. Herewith, we can show that the singularity structure of this expansion is directly interwoven with the phase structure of the system: In the non-condensation phase, the expansion has a form that resembles usual heat kernel expansions. By this, thermodynamic observables are directly calculable. In contrast, the expansion exhibits a singularity of infinite order above a critical density, and a renormalization of the chemical potential is needed to ensure well-defined thermodynamic observables. Furthermore, the renormalization procedure forces the system to exhibit condensation. In addition, we show that characteristic features of the thermodynamic limit, such as the critical density or the internal energy, are entirely encoded in the coefficients of the asymptotic expansion.