Bose-Einstein condensation, fluctuations, and recurrence relations in statistical mechanics

Authors

WJ MullinFollow
JP Fernandez

Publication Date

2003

Journal or Book Title

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS

Abstract

We calculate certain features of Bose–Einstein condensation in the ideal gas by using recurrence relations for the partition function. The grand canonical ensemble gives inaccurate results for certain properties of the condensate that are accurately provided by the canonical ensemble. Calculations in the latter can be made tractable for finite systems by means of the recurrence relations. The ideal one-dimensional harmonic Bose gas provides a particularly simple and pedagogically useful model for which detailed results are easily derived. An analysis of the Bose system via permutation cycles yields insight into the physical meaning of the recurrence relations.

Comments

This is the pre-published version which is collected from arXiv. The published version is at http://ajp.aapt.org/resource/1/ajpias/v71/i7/p661_s1

Pages

661-669

Volume

71

Issue

7

Recommended Citation

Mullin, WJ and Fernandez, JP, "Bose-Einstein condensation, fluctuations, and recurrence relations in statistical mechanics" (2003). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. 40.
Retrieved from https://scholarworks.umass.edu/physics_faculty_pubs/40