https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-20158-4
Regular Article
Phase transitions for an ideal Bose condensate trapped in a quartic potential
Department of Physics, Nanchang University,
Nanchang
30031, P.R.
China
a e-mail: physwjh@gmail.com
Received:
16
March
2011
Received in final form:
2
May
2011
Published online:
29
July
2011
Based on the classification scheme of phase transitions, we study the phase transitions for an ideal Bose gas with a finite number of particles confined in a three-dimensional quartic trap. We show that the phase transition of an ideal Bose gas in the three-dimensional quartic trap is of third order for finite particle numbers, quite different from the fact that the phase transition is of first order in the thermodynamic limit. We discuss the effects of finite particle numbers on the nature of the phase transitions, and determine the dependence of transition temperature on particle number.
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag 2011
