Normal fluid/condensate interaction

In a dilute Bose gas the interaction between the normal gas and the condensate can be studied both at equilibrium and for its relevance to superfluid mechanics. In this article, one reviews first the thermodynamics of the interacting Bose gas in the low density limit and in the low temperature–finite density case. This is extended to thermodynamics with a velocity difference between the two components, normal and superfluid. It is argued that, if the initial value of the momentum related to this velocity difference is larger than the one given by thermodynamic stability, a new condensate should form in a finite time with a velocity close to the that of the normal gas. In the dilute case this occurrence of a new condensate is reminiscent of the condensation in the isotropic case at high enough density. To cite this article: Y. Pomeau, C. R. Physique 5 (2004).