Goldstone bosons in description of superfluidity

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the relationship between superfluidity and the Lagrangian of the system, particularly focusing on the role of Goldstone bosons and the implications of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the context of superfluid excitations.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant seeks to understand how superfluidity relates to the Lagrangian, specifically questioning the nature of excitations in superfluids and their classification as Goldstone bosons.
  • Another participant suggests consulting various texts, implying that further literature may provide clarity on the topic.
  • A question is posed regarding the specific symmetry that is broken during the transition to Bose-Einstein Condensation (BEC).
  • A reference to a review paper by Yukalov is provided, potentially offering additional insights into the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

The discussion does not appear to reach a consensus, as participants raise different questions and suggest various resources without resolving the initial inquiry about Goldstone bosons in superfluidity.

Contextual Notes

There are unresolved aspects regarding the specific symmetry broken in the transition to BEC and the conditions under which excitations can be classified as Goldstone bosons.

Anton Stepennov
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Hello,

I'm trying to understand how the superfluidity is connected with the Lagrangian of the system: in some textbooks (e.g. Antony Zee qft in nutshell) it is stated, that in case, when the excitations in the fluid have energy spectrum linear with momentum , there is a critical velocity, which forbids appearing of these excitation cinematically , and what is not clear, is that beside massless particles with linear energy spectrum there are also kind of "higgs bosons", which appear because of spontaneous symmetry breaking , which are massive so that they can appear at any velocity . How one can show, that the excitation in superfluid are goldstone bosons only?

thanks
 
Try reading Kardar's or Huang's, perhaps it also appears in Pathria's, not sure.

You should be digging through the literature.
:-)
 
What symmetry gets broken in the transition to BEC?
 

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