Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Non-equilibrium Microwave Plasma for Efficient High Temperature Chemistry
Published on: August 1, 2017
Critical temperature of a trapped, weakly interacting Bose gas
F Gerbier1, J H Thywissen, S Richard
1Groupe d'Optique Atomique, Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l'Institut d'Optique, UMR 8501 du CNRS, 91403 Orsay CEDEX, France.
Abstract:
We report on measurements of the critical temperature of a harmonically trapped, weakly interacting Bose gas as a function of atom number. Our results exclude ideal-gas behavior by more than two standard deviations, and agree quantitatively with mean-field theory. At our level of sensitivity, we find no additional shift due to critical fluctuations. In the course of this measurement, the onset of hydrodynamic expansion in the thermal component has been observed. Our thermometry method takes this feature into account.
Related Concept Videos
Real Gases: Effects of Intermolecular Forces and Molecular Volume Deriving Van der Waals Equation
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas I
Molar heat capacity quantifies the ratio of the amount of heat added (or removed) to increase (or decrease) the temperature of...
Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas II
Heat Capacities of an Ideal Gas III
Deviation from Ideal Behaviour

