Bose-Einstein Condensation (Physics) [Hardcover]

L. Pitaevskii (Author), S. Stringari (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 12, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0198507194 | ISBN-13: 978-0198507192

This book is an introductory text to the physics of Bose-Einstein condensation. This phenomenon, first predicted by Einstein in 1925 has been realized experimentally in 1995 in a remarkable series of experiments whose importance has been recognized by the award of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physics. The condensate is actually a new state of matter, where quantum-mechanical wave functions of atoms behave as coherent matter waves in the same way as coherent light waves in the case of a laser. The authors provide a theoretical presentation of the main concepts underlying the physics of dilute atomic gases in conditions of extremely low temperatures where quantum effects play a crucial role. The main effort is devoted to discussion of the relevant theoretical aspects exhibited by these systms, such as the concept of order parameter, long range order, superfluidity and coherence. The mathematical formalism is presented in a form convenient for practical use. The book develops the theory of Bose gases starting from the pioneering Bogoliubov approach and gives special emphasis to the new physical features exhibited by non-uniform gases which are produced in the recent experiments with magnetic and optical traps. These features include the determination of the equilibrium profiles, the collective oscillations, the mechanism of the expansion of the gas after releasing the trap, the interference patterns obtained by overlapping two condensates, the rotational properties revealing the effects of superfluidity the Josephson-like phenomena associated with the coherence of the phase, the beyond mean field phenomena exhibited by quantum gases in conditions of reduced dimensionality. The book also discusses the alaogies and differences with the physics of "classical" superfluids like liquid helium and introduces some of the major features of trapped Fermi gases at low temperature, pointing out the consequences of superfluidity.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book is highly recommended to specialists in the field who will find in it a self-consistent compendium on the physicso f BEC and also to condensed matter physicists familiar with many-bodied theories who want to learn about the development of this very promising research line."--Journal of Statistical Physics

"Overall, Bose-Einstein Condensation is clearly written and well focused. It should be accessible to anyone who has had a beginning graduate-level course in quantum mechanics."--Physics Today

About the Author

L. Pitaevskii: Russian, born in Saratov (Russia) January 18, 1933 S. Stringari: Italian, born in Tarcento (Italy) March 2, 1949

Product Details

• Hardcover: 492 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (June 12, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198507194
• ISBN-13: 978-0198507192
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,261,622 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Concise slick book. Good but not great., March 6, 2005

By 

Mayer A. Landau (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bose-Einstein Condensation (Physics) (Hardcover)

This is not an easy book to read. It starts off with field theory and assumes a lot of knowledge, especially from Landau's books on fluid mechanics and statistical physics. The format of the writing is concise, almost journal publication style. Chapter 14 on angular momentum and vortices is very slick and hard to follow. Chapter's 7 and 8 on response theory and 4He introduce a lot of notation and constructs without definition or motivation. Their discussion of mean field theory in BEC, derivation of the Gross-Pitaevskii from the operator formalism, and discussion of Fermi gases is clearer than in the BEC book by Pethick and Smith. There is also a discussion of optical lattices and low dimensions that is not discussed in Pethick and Smith. The other standard topics such as dynamics of a BEC in a harmonic trap are covered better in Pethick and Smith. Cooling is not discussed in this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent introduction, May 26, 2011

By 

chicken head cut off "mcscientist" (Gainesville/Orsay France) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Bose-Einstein Condensation (Physics) (Hardcover)

while the book is getting a little old, i find it to be an excellent text. it starts 'gently' (gently assuming youve had graduate stat mech, and know some many-body or field theory) with the ideal bose gas and the weakly interacting bose gas. they cover landau's theory of superfluidity and linear response in general before starting with atomic physics for traps and the condensate in a trap. towards the end some of the more 'modern' topics like mixtures, fermi condensates, phase effects, etc. if you wanted to work in BECs, a firm foundation would be this book plus a small selection of more recent review on topics that are too new for textbooks.

ive found it very clear and helpful.