Quantum kinetic theory IV: Intensity and amplitude fluctuations of a Bose- Einstein condensate at finite temperature including trap loss

Abstract

We use the quantum kinetic theory to calculate the steady state and the fluctuations of a trapped Bose-Einstein condensate at finite temperature. The system is divided in a condensate and a non-condensate part. A quantum mechanical description based on the number conserving Bogoliubov method is used for describing the condensate part. The non-condensed particles are treated as a classical gas in thermal equilibrium with temperature T and chemical potential mu. We find a master equation for the reduced density operator of the Bose-Einstein condensate, calculate the steady state of the system and investigate the effect of one- two- and three particle loss on the condensate. Using linearized Ito equations we find expressions for the intensity fluctuations and the amplitude fluctuations in the condensate. A Lorentzian line shape is found for the intensity correlation function that is characterized by a time constant gammaI^(-1) derived in the paper. For the amplitude correlation function we find ballistic behavior for time differences smaller than gammaI^(-1) and diffusive behavior for larger time differences