An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A → quantum phase transition during which the → bosons constituting a sufficiently cooled boson gas are all clustered in the → ground energy state. The phase transition results in a → Bose-Einstein condensate. This phenomenon occurs when the temperature becomes smaller than a critical value given by:

T_c = (2π&#295² / km)(n / 2.612)^2/3, where m is mass of each boson, &#295 is the → reduced Planck’s constant, k is → Boltzmann’s constant, and n is the particle number density. When T  ≤  T_c, the → de Broglie wavelength of bosons becomes comparable to the distance between bosons.

See also: → boson; → Einstein; → condensation.