Proof of Bose-Einstein condensation for dilute trapped gases

Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Apr 29;88(17):170409. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.170409. Epub 2002 Apr 16.

Abstract

The ground state of bosonic atoms in a trap has been shown experimentally to display Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC). We prove this fact theoretically for bosons with two-body repulsive interaction potentials in the dilute limit, starting from the basic Schrödinger equation; the condensation is 100% into the state that minimizes the Gross-Pitaevskii energy functional. This is the first rigorous proof of BEC in a physically realistic, continuum model.