Condensation of the Ideal Bose Gas as a Cooperative Transition

Abstract

The thermodynamic properties of the noninteracting Bose gas in the neighborhood of its transition are examined in detail. The order parameter is a complex extensive variable, but the thermodynamic properties depend only on its amplitude under simple boundary conditions. As the dimensionality or the single-particle energy spectrum is varied, the critical singularity displays a variety of forms. The equation of state has a simple structure, different from the homogeneous form often discussed for critical systems but asymptotically reducing to the latter except when logarithmic singularities are involved. The correlation function in the critical region is a homogeneous function of the distance and a correlation length. Only for a quadratic energy spectrum is the Ornstein-Zernike theory result valid at the critical temperature. A precise correspondence is noted between the asymptotic properties of the ideal Bose gas transition and those of the spherical model of ferromagnetism.