Wave-Particle Fluctuations, Coherence, and Bose-Einstein Condensation

Abstract

By extending Einstein's separation of wave and particle parts of the second order thermal fluctuation to encompass "generalized fluctuations" in any Bose field, P. E. Gordon has proposed alternative definitions for nth order coherence and nth order coherent states. The main point of this paper is to explore some of the physical insights to be gained by extending dualism to higher orders. Recent experiments have examined aspects of the coherence of Bose-Einstein condensates. It has been argued that the condensate state is coherent to (at least) second or third order, but the coherence properties of Bose-Einstein condensates remain somewhat controversial. Using probability distributions developed by M. O. Scully and V. V. Kocharovsky et. al., we apply Gordon's dualistic expression of the coherence conditions to investigate coherence properties in Bose-Einstein condensation. Via numerical calculations, we present a graphical survey of wave-like and particle-like fluctuations in condensed and uncondensed fractions. Near the critical point, we find a very marked peak in the ratio of nth order wave to nth order particle fluctuations in the condensate. Not surprisingly, n-point correlations between the positions of condensate atoms also peak near the critical temperature, and this apparently mirrors, to higher orders, the well-known relation between the integral of the 2-point correlation function over a certain volume and the rms fluctuation in the number of particles in that volume.