Abstract
We discuss the quasi–two-dimensional trapped Bose gas where the thermal occupation of excited states in the tightly confined direction is small but remains finite in the thermodynamic limit. We show that the semiclassical theory describes very accurately the density profile obtained by quantum Monte Carlo calculations in the normal phase above the Kosterlitz-Thouless temperature TKT, but differs strongly from the predictions of strictly two-dimensional mean-field theory, even at relatively high temperature. We discuss the relevance of our findings for analyzing ultra-cold–atom experiments in quasi–two-dimensional traps.
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