Ferromagnetic phase transition and Bose-Einstein condensation in spinor Bose gases

Abstract

Phase transitions in spinor Bose gases with ferromagnetic (FM) couplings are studied via mean-field theory. We show that an infinitesimal value of the coupling can induce a FM phase transition at a finite temperature always above the critical temperature of Bose-Einstein condensation. This contrasts sharply with the case of Fermi gases, in which the Stoner coupling ${I}_{s}$ cannot lead to a FM phase transition unless it is larger than a threshold value ${I}_{0}.$ The FM coupling also increases the critical temperatures of both the ferromagnetic transition and the Bose-Einstein condensation.