Why is the BCS trial function valid across the BEC-BCS crossover?

Question

In one of the two main theoretical approaches used in describing ultracold Fermi gases and the BEC-BCS crossover, the so-called BCS-Leggett approach, the starting point is the BCS trial wavefunction:

$$ \mid BCS \rangle \equiv \prod_{\mathbf{k}} \left( u_{\mathbf{k}} + v_{\mathbf{k}} P^\dagger_{\mathbf{k}} \right) \mid 0 \rangle $$

where the $P^\dagger_{\mathbf{k}}$ operator creates a Cooper pair. It is often asserted that this wavefunction, which may seem tailored for a BCS-like problem, has far greater validity and can also be successfully exploited in describing the BEC-BCS crossover (see for instance: http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0404274).

Even looking at the original articles by Leggett and Eagles (cited in the reference above) I cannot see why $\mid BCS \rangle$ should be valid in the BEC regime: I am looking for a review article (or even a textbook) addressing this issue.

Answer 1

You can gain some intuition from looking at the density distribution function in momentum space which for the $|BCS\rangle$ is given by $n_k=v^{2}_k$. In the BCS limit one finds approximately the filled Fermi sphere, while in the BEC limit $n_k\sim 1/(1+[ka]^2)^2$ which is proportional to the square of the Fourier transform of the dimer wave function. For this reason in the BEC limit the state $|BCS\rangle$ describes a condensate of dimers. You can find a little bit more about this question in http://arxiv.org/abs/0706.3360