The Bogoliubov free energy functional. II: The dilute limit (Q1637293)

The authors deal with a variational model introduced by \textit{R. H. Critchley} and \textit{A. Solomon} [``A variational approach to superfluidity'', J. Stat. Phys., 14, 381--393 (1976; \url{doi:10.1007/BF01030201}]. They consider a Hamiltonian for a gas of \(N\) bosons that interact via a (periodized) repulsive pair potential \(V^l\) in a three-dimensional box \([-l/2, l/2]^3\) with periodic boundary conditions. The authors analyze the Bogoliubov free energy functional without the simplifications, and determine whether the minimizers display BEC \((\rho_0 > 0)\) or not (\(\rho_0= 0\)). The authors prove the existence of grand canonical minimizers for \(T > 0\) and \(T=0\), respectively. The authors obtain new results concerning the existence of phase transitions in the given model. They prove that the first-order phase transition occurs at some critical temperatures. Also, the authors prove some theorems containing information about the critical temperature in the dilute limit. The authors provide asymptotic expansions of the free energy in the dilute limit by means of the integrals. A more precise energy expansion in the region around the critical temperature is obtained. For some parameters, the simplified energy is calculated. The free energy function that depends on the parameters \(k\) and \(\sigma\) is plotted.