Bose-Einstein condensation in variable dimensionality

Abstract

We introduce dimensional perturbation techniques to Bose-Einstein condensation of inhomogeneous alkali gases (BEC). The perturbation parameter is delta=1/kappa, where kappa depends on the effective dimensionality of the condensate and on the angular momentum quantum number. We derive a simple approximation that is more accurate and flexible than the N -> infinity Thomas-Fermi ground state approximation (TFA) of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation. The approximation presented here is well-suited for calculating properties of states in three dimensions and in low effective dimensionality, such as vortex states in a highly anisotropic trap.