Composite Bosons: Understanding Their Behavior at Near Absolute Zero

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In summary, matter with even total spin, such as atoms with combined particle spins, are considered (composite) bosons. However, they do not behave like gauge bosons and do not follow Bose-Einstein statistics unless they are cooled to near absolute zero temperature, where they show BEC features. It is possible for fermionic matter to exhibit bosonic behavior at extreme temperatures. Cooper pairs in high-Tc superconductors are also composite bosons and show bosonic behavior at critical temperatures. The behavior of composite bosons is not limited to low temperatures but is dependent on density. At low densities, composite bosons show bosonic behavior, but at high densities, their fermionic components cannot be neglected and they exhibit fermionic commutation relations
  • #1
TrickyDicky
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Matter with even total spin are considered (composite) bosons, for instance atoms whose particle spins add up to an even number, but they don't behave at all like gauge bosons, and I don't think they follow Bose-Einstein statistics,unless they are cooled to near absolute zero temperature, in which case they show BEC features, but then also fermionic matter can be made to turn "bosonic" with sufficiently low temperatures (He-3 BEC,etc).
So my question is does the bosonic behaviour in composite bosons shows only in near absolute zero conditions,and if so, why call them bosons at all if fermions can be made to show that behaviour at extreme temperatures?
 
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  • #2
TrickyDicky said:
Matter with even total spin are considered (composite) bosons, for instance atoms whose particle spins add up to an even number, but they don't behave at all like gauge bosons, and I don't think they follow Bose-Einstein statistics,unless they are cooled to near absolute zero temperature, in which case they show BEC features, but then also fermionic matter can be made to turn "bosonic" with sufficiently low temperatures (He-3 BEC,etc).
So my question is does the bosonic behaviour in composite bosons shows only in near absolute zero conditions,and if so, why call them bosons at all if fermions can be made to show that behaviour at extreme temperatures?

Er.. Cooper pairs in high-Tc superconductors are composite bosons as well. They show bosonic behavior at the critical temperatures, which can be as high as 130-150K.

Zz.
 
  • #3
Two comments: Fermionic matter does not turn bosonic at low temperatures. You can get pairing or similar mechanisms such that the composite particle is a composite boson. And bosonic behavior for composite bosons is not limited to low temperatures. Excitons for example keep their bosonic nature up to room temperature in certain materials. It is more a matter of density. If the density of composite bosons becomes large, their fermionic components determining their inner structure cannot be neglected anymore.
 
  • #4
Cthugha said:
Two comments: Fermionic matter does not turn bosonic at low temperatures. You can get pairing or similar mechanisms such that the composite particle is a composite boson. And bosonic behavior for composite bosons is not limited to low temperatures. Excitons for example keep their bosonic nature up to room temperature in certain materials. It is more a matter of density. If the density of composite bosons becomes large, their fermionic components determining their inner structure cannot be neglected anymore.
Thanks for trying to answer. What are excitons?
I guess what I meant to ask is what are the differenes between bosonic and fermionic matter at room tmperature. So your reference to density is very interesting, At what density would composite bosons show their bosonic nature and how?
 
  • #5
Excitons are elementary excitations in semiconductors. Maybe you know that in semiconductors one kind of excitations consists of electrons promoted to the conduction band. Simply speaking, those leave quasiparticles called holes behind in the valence band. As both have opposite charge, it is possible that they form a bound electron hole pair somewhat similar to hydrogen. This composite pair of electron and hole is an exciton and it is approximately bosonic.

You can identify bosons in terms of commutation relations. For excitons, the commutation relation at low density is the same as for bosons, but it in principle it depends on density, ending up in the fermionic commutation relations of the fermionic constituents at high density when the Coulomb interaction of the constituents belonging to different excitons becomes comparable to the binding energy of the electron-hole pairs.
 
  • #6
Cthugha said:
Excitons are elementary excitations in semiconductors. Maybe you know that in semiconductors one kind of excitations consists of electrons promoted to the conduction band. Simply speaking, those leave quasiparticles called holes behind in the valence band. As both have opposite charge, it is possible that they form a bound electron hole pair somewhat similar to hydrogen. This composite pair of electron and hole is an exciton and it is approximately bosonic.

You can identify bosons in terms of commutation relations. For excitons, the commutation relation at low density is the same as for bosons, but it in principle it depends on density, ending up in the fermionic commutation relations of the fermionic constituents at high density when the Coulomb interaction of the constituents belonging to different excitons becomes comparable to the binding energy of the electron-hole pairs.
What would be the low density limit in lay terms? can you point me to some text where this is treated in introductory form?
Thanks
 
  • #7
What exactly can be defined as low density depends on the interactions that can happen between the composite bosons. If they are heavy and interact strongly, a smaller density is sufficient to show deviations from bosonic behavior than is needed for weakly interacting and light particles.

I do not really know any really intoductory texts. However, there are some review articles and some relatively easy to understand old articles.

One of the earlier treatments of this problem is given in M.D. Girardeau: "Second-quantization representation for a non relativistic system of composite particles, I Generalized Tani transformation and its iterative evaluation", J. Math. Phys. 16,1901 (1975).

A long and exhaustive (but not that easy to read) review article is found in A. Klein and E. R. Marshalek: "Boson realizations of Lie algebras with applications to nuclear physics", Rev. Mod. Phys. 63, 375–558 (1991).

To give the complete picture, there are also people, who claim that composite bosons are approximately bosonic, but the small deviations from true bosons without inner structure should always be considered. A review from this point of view is given for example in M. Combescot et al.: "The many-body physics of composite bosons", Physics Reports 463, 215–320 (2008).

I am sorry that these papers might be somewhat hard to digest, but I am not aware of texts which are easier to read.
 
  • #8

Related to Composite Bosons: Understanding Their Behavior at Near Absolute Zero

1. What are composite bosons?

Composite bosons are particles that are made up of more than one elementary particle, such as atoms or molecules. They behave as a single entity and have integer spin, making them different from fermions which have half-integer spin.

2. What is the significance of understanding their behavior at near absolute zero?

Near absolute zero, or absolute zero, is the temperature at which all thermal motion of particles stops. At this temperature, the behavior of composite bosons can be better understood as they are in their lowest energy state. This is important for studying quantum mechanics and superfluidity.

3. How do composite bosons behave at near absolute zero?

At near absolute zero, composite bosons can form a unique state of matter called a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). In this state, all the particles are in the same quantum state, exhibiting wave-like behavior and behaving as a single macroscopic entity. They also exhibit superfluidity, meaning they can flow without any resistance.

4. What are some real-world applications of understanding composite bosons at near absolute zero?

Understanding the behavior of composite bosons at near absolute zero has many potential applications in various fields, such as quantum computing, precision measurements, and creating new states of matter. It can also help us better understand and potentially control superfluidity, which has applications in technologies like superconductors and gyroscopes.

5. How do scientists study composite bosons at near absolute zero?

Scientists use various techniques to cool particles to near absolute zero, such as evaporative cooling or laser cooling. They then trap the particles using magnetic or optical fields and use techniques like spectroscopy and imaging to study their behavior. These experiments are typically conducted in specialized laboratories called ultracold laboratories.

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