Theory of Quantum Degenerate Gases

Motivated by experiments on cold alkali atoms, I present a theoretical study of weakly interacting quantum degenerate particles. These experiments observe a wide range of phenomena and consequently this thesis has a broad scope, involving issues of coherence, stability, superfluidity, and kinetics. I explore six topics which exemplify the rich and exciting physics of cold alkali atoms: first, the effect of interactions on the transition temperature of a dilute Bose gas; second, the connection between broken non-gauge symmetries and the appearance of multiple condensates in a Bose gas; third, the role of thermally activated "phase slip" events in destroying superfluidity near the critical temperature of a Bose gas; fourth, mechanical instabilities in clouds of attractive bosons; fifth, the kinetics of a gas of partially condensed atoms; and sixth, the nonlinear optical properties of an atomic gases.U of I Onlythesi