Justification of c-Number Substitutions in Bosonic Hamiltonians

Abstract

The validity of substituting a c-number $z$ for the $k=0$ mode operator $a_0$ is established rigorously in full generality, thereby verifying one aspect of Bogoliubov's 1947 theory. This substitution not only yields the correct value of thermodynamic quantities like the pressure or ground state energy, but also the value of $|z{|}^2$ that maximizes the partition function equals the true amount of condensation in the presence of a gauge-symmetry breaking term -- a point that had previously been elusive.

RevTeX4, 4pages; minor modifications in the text; final version, to appear in Phys. Rev. Lett