Abstract
A model of free4He atoms interacting with radiation exhibits an equilibrium phase transition in which the atomic ground-state Bose condensation is coupled to condensations of virtual photons and virtually excited atoms of the same macroscopic wavelength. The condensed phase has a twofold polarization degeneracy. It is suggested that this might furnish a mechanism for a discrete symmetry-related phase degeneracy of superfluid liquid4He required to explain the λ transition according to Tisza's generalized Gibbsian thermodynamics. A more realistic model would require inclusion of repulsive interactions.
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Supported in part by the National Science Foundation, Grant DMR76-17467.
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Girardeau, M.D. Equilibrium superradiance in a Bose gas. J Stat Phys 18, 207–215 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014311
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014311