Theory of Quantum Gases and Quantum Coherence: The Levico BEC Workshop, 12–14 June 2003

Abstract

This special section of Journal of Physics B: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics (J. Phys. B) is a compilation of articles originating from the three-day international workshop entitled 'Theory of Quantum Gases and Quantum Coherence', held in June 2003 in Levico, Italy. The workshop follows on from the Salerno workshop held in 2002 (see J. Phys. B volume 34, issue 23). The articles presented in this special section highlight the interdisciplary nature of Bose–Einstein condensation, both experimental and theoretical, and some of the exciting progress being made in the field at the moment.We would like to thank all of the institutions and people who have supported the workshop. The European Science Foundation has provided substantial financial support through the programme 'Quantum Degenerate Dilute Systems: Bose–Einstein Condensation and Beyond (BEC2000+)'. Our gratitude goes especially to the steering committee of the BEC2000+ programme and to its chairman, Professor Dr Martin Wilkens. The Research and Development Centre for Bose–Einstein Condensation of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia (BEC-INFM) has been another important source of financial support and for this we thank especially the Director of the centre, Professor Sandro Stringari. We would also like to thank the Dipartimento di Fisica of the Università di Trento for financial and logistic help.As this international workshop coincided with the ten-year anniversary of the first ever BEC conference, which was also held in Levico, we asked Professor Allan Griffin to write an introduction to this special section based on the talk he gave at the workshop. This introduction (the following article) gives a nice overview of the first ever conference and celebrates the progress in the field of BEC over the past ten years.