Phase-fluctuating 3D condensates in elongated traps

Abstract

We find that in very elongated 3D trapped Bose gases, even at temperatures far below the BEC transition temperature Tc, the equilibrium state will be a 3D condensate with fluctuating phase (quasicondensate). At sufficiently low temperatures the phase fluctuations are suppressed and the quasicondensate turns into a true condensate. The presence of the phase fluctuations allows for extending thermometry of Bose-condensed gases well below those established in current experiments.