Self-Similar Approximations for a Trapped Bose-Einstein Condensate

Abstract

An approximate solution to the Gross-Pitaevskii equation for Bose-Einstein condensate in a spherical harmonic trap is suggested, which is valid in the whole interval of the coupling parameter, correctly interpolating between weak-coupling and strong-coupling limits. This solution is shown to be more accurate than the optimized Gaussian approximation as well as the Thomas-Fermi approximation. The derivation of the solution is based on the self-similar approximation theory. The possibility of obtaining interpolation formulas in the case of nonspherical traps is discussed.