CANONICAL BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION OF INTERACTING BOSONS IN 2 DIMENSIONS

The onset of Bose-Einstein condensation in a 2D gas of bosons in a par abolic confinement potential is investigated. For such a system of non -interacting bosons, both the grand-canonical and the canonical partit ion function are calculated. The canonical partition function of a sys tem of harmonically interacting bosons in 2D is obtained analytically. Both in the case of interacting and of non-interacting bosons, a dist inct peak in the specific heat is found at a critical temperature and the dependence of this critical temperature on the number of particles and on the interparticle interaction strength is investigated. (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd.