Bose-Einstein condensation at finite momentum and magnon condensation in thin film ferromagnets

TL;DR

This paper investigates the spatial structure of Bose-Einstein condensates with finite momentum, revealing lattice-like localization and applying findings to magnon condensates in ferromagnetic thin films.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for understanding condensates with degenerate finite-momentum minima and explores their crystalline-like spatial structure, especially in magnon systems.

Findings

Condensate density Fourier transform has multiple harmonics at integer multiples of q.

Condensate can localize at lattice sites, resembling a liquid-to-solid transition.

Results applied to magnon condensates in ferromagnetic thin films.

Abstract

We use the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to determine the spatial structure of the condensate density of interacting bosons whose energy dispersion epsilon_k has two degenerate minima at finite wave-vectors q. We show that in general the Fourier transform of the condensate density has finite amplitudes for all integer multiples of q. If the interaction is such that many Fourier components contribute, the Bose condensate is localized at the sites of a one-dimensional lattice with spacing 2pi/q; in this case Bose-Einstein condensation resembles the transition from a liquid to a crystalline solid. We use our results to investigate the spatial structure of the Bose condensate formed by magnons in thin films of ferromagnets with dipole-dipole interactions.