Date of Award

2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Chapter 1. Exact and explicit results are derived for the thermodynamic properties (isochores, isotherms, isobars, response functions, speed of sound) of a quantum gas in dimensions [special characters omitted] ≥ 1 and with fractional exclusion statistics 0 ≤ g ≤ 1 connecting bosons (g = 0) and fermions (g = 1). In [special characters omitted] = 1 the results are equivalent to those of the Calogero-Sutherland model, a gas with long-range two-body interaction. Emphasis is given to the crossover between boson-like and fermion-like features, caused by aspects of the statistical interaction that mimic long-range attraction and short-range repulsion. A phase transition along the isobar occurs at a nonzero temperature in all dimensions. The T-dependence of the speed of sound is in simple relation to isochores and isobars. The effects of soft container walls are accounted for rigorously for the case of a pure power-law potential. Chapter 2. The exact thermodynamics (isochores, isotherms, isobars, response functions, speed of sound) is worked out for a statistically interacting quantum gas in [special characters omitted] dimensions. The results in [special characters omitted] = 1 are those of the thermodynamic Bethe ansatz for the Nonlinear Schrödinger model, a gas with repulsive two-body contact potential. In all dimensions the ideal boson and fermion gases are recovered in the weak-coupling and strong-coupling limits, respectively. For all nonzero couplings ideal fermion gas behavior emerges for [special characters omitted] >> 1 and, in the limit [special characters omitted] → ∞, a phase transition occurs at T > 0. Significant deviations from ideal quantum gas behavior are found for intermediate coupling and finite [special characters omitted]. Chapter 3. Methodology previously developed in the framework of the coordinate Bethe ansatz applied to integrable quantum gas models is employed to calculate some ground-state properties and elementary excitations for quantum gas models in [special characters omitted] = 1 dimensions with statistical interactions that are not equivalent to dynamical interactions. The focus in this comparative study is on modifications of the Calogero-Sutherland and Nonlinear Schrödinger models. Statistical interactions cannot be chosen arbitrarily. They must satisfy certain physicality conditions, which will be discussed in some detail.

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