Bose-Einstein condensation in finite noninteracting systems: A new law of corresponding states

Abstract

We have carried out a rigorous asymptotic analysis of the thermodynamic behavior of an ideal Bose gas confined to an arbitrary, finite cuboidal geometry under periodic boundary conditions. Our investigation, which is based on the grand canonical ensemble, leads to the construction of an abstract, thermogeometric space in which the process of Bose-Einstein condensation appears as a "collapse" of the lattice points of the space towards its origin. In an infinite geometry, the collapse is accomplished in an infinitesimally small interval of temperature; this results in the appearance of mathematical singularities in the thermodynamic functions of the system. In a finite geometry, the "collapse" proceeds gradually and is spread over a temperature range $\Delta T$ such that $\frac{\Delta T}{T_0}=O\left(\frac{\overline{l}}{L_{<}}\right)$, where $\overline{l}$ is the mean interatomic distance while $L_{<}$ is the length of the shortest side of the assembly; accordingly, the thermodynamic functions of the system remain smooth throughout. Special events, such as the specific-heat maximum, occur when the "lattice parameters" of our thermogeometric space acquire certain characteristic values which depend only on the shape of the system and not on its actual size. This leads to a new law of corresponding states for Bose-Einstein systems of finite size.