Bose–Einstein Condensation in Dilute Gases

Since an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate, predicted by Einstein in 1925, was first produced in the laboratory in 1995, the study of ultracold Bose and Fermi gases has become one of the most active areas in contemporary physics. This book explains phenomena in ultracold gases from basic principles, without assuming a detailed knowledge of atomic, condensed matter, and nuclear physics. This new edition has been revised and updated, and includes new chapters on optical lattices, low dimensions, and strongly-interacting Fermi systems. This book provides a unified introduction to the physics of ultracold atomic Bose and Fermi gases for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as experimentalists and theorists. Chapters cover the statistical physics of trapped gases, atomic properties, cooling and trapping atoms, interatomic interactions, structure of trapped condensates, collective modes, rotating condensates, superfluidity, interference phenomena, and trapped Fermi gases. Problems are included at the end of each chapter.

Table of Contents:
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. The non-interacting Bose gas; 3. Atomic properties; 4. Trapping and cooling of atoms; 5. Interactions between atoms; 6. Theory of the condensed state; 7. Dynamics of the condensate; 8. Microscopic theory of the Bose gas; 9. Rotating condensates; 10. Superfluidity; 11. Trapped clouds at non-zero temperature; 12. Mixtures and spinor condensates; 13. Interference and correlations; 14. Optical lattices; 15. Lower dimensions; 16. Fermions; 17. From atoms to molecules; Appendix; Index.

About the Author :
Christopher Pethick graduated with a D.Phil. in 1965 from the University of Oxford, and he had a research fellowship there until 1970. During the years 1966–69 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he joined the faculty in 1970, becoming Professor of Physics in 1973. Following periods spent at the Landau Institute for Theoretical Physics, Moscow and at Nordita (Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics), Copenhagen, as a visiting scientist, he accepted a permanent position at Nordita in 1975, and divided his time for many years between Nordita and the University of Illinois. Apart from the subject of the present book, Professor Pethick's main research interests are condensed matter physics (quantum liquids, especially 3He, 4He and superconductors) and astrophysics (particularly the properties of dense matter and the interiors of neutron stars). He is also the co-author of Landau Fermi-Liquid Theory: Concepts and Applications (1991). Henrik Smith obtained his mag. scient. degree in 1966 from the University of Copenhagen and spent the next few years as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University and as a visiting scientist at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Helsinki. In 1972 he joined the faculty of the University of Copenhagen where he became dr. phil. in 1977 and Professor of Physics in 1978. He has also worked as a guest scientist at the Bell Laboratories, New Jersey. Professor Smith's research field is condensed matter physics and low-temperature physics including quantum liquids and the properties of superfluid 3He, transport properties of normal and superconducting metals, and two-dimensional electron systems. His other books include Transport Phenomena (1989) and Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (1991).

Review :
Review of the first edition: '… an excellent and much-needed text of the theory of these condensates … Although progress continues at a cracking pace, there is now a set of basic notions that it is sensible to teach postgraduates, including the way that condensates are made and their physical properties as macroscopic quantum systems. This book is an excellent source of information on this topic, and is accessible to a wide range of physicists and chemists … likely to be a best seller in its category. This well-produced book is a must buy for anyone wanting to get started in this field.' Keith Burnett, Nature Review of the first edition: 'Bose-Einstein Condensation in Dilute Gases will be useful to newcomers to the field and will help researchers with diverse backgrounds communicate with each other. It is an excellent text, a broad survey with some in-depth discussions … an excellent text such as [this] is needed in these exciting times.' Physics Today