Coherent phonon states and long-range order in two-dimensional bose systems

Abstract

At any finite temperature, the correlation function ψ†(r)ψ(0) of a two-dimensional Bose system is known to approach zero as the separation r approaches infinity. This paper is devoted to supporting the point of view that superfluid phenomena may still persist in such a system. To describe the low-temperature behavior of a condensed two-dimensional Bose system, we use a coherent-state representation of the low-lying phonon excitations. The expectation of the particle field operator ψ(r) in a coherent phonon state of the system is shown to be a well-defined function. This function has only small fluctuations in its magnitude and, therefore, it is possible to make the usual arguments for superfluid behavior based on the existence of the condensate wave function. The large phase fluctuations of the function, when the coherentphonon states are collected into the thermal ensemble, give rise to the spatial decay of the correlation function or reduced density matrix ψ+(r)ψ(0). It is concluded that two-dimensional Bose systems are superfluid at sufficiently low temperatures, even in the inifinite-volume limit. An analogous argument would indicate the possibility of superconductivity in a two-dimensional Fermi system. © 1968 The American Physical Society.