Thermodynamical properties of a trapped interacting Bose gas

The thermodynamical properties of interacting Bose atoms in a harmonic potential are studied within the mean-field approximation. For weak interactions, the quantum statistics is equivalent to an ideal gas in an effective mean-field potential. The eigenvalue of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation is identified as the chemical potential of the ideal gas. The condensation temperature and density profile of atoms are calculated. It is found that the critical temperature $T_c$ decreases as the interactions increase. Below the critical point, the condensation fraction exhibits a universal relation of $N_0/N=1-(T/T_c)^γ$, with the index $γ\approx 2.3$ independent of the interaction strength, the chemical potential, as well as the frequency of the confining potential.

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