Bose-Einstein condensation and applications

After a short introduction on recent developments in the field of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) with weakly interacting neutral atoms in the first part of my thesis I investigate the properties of a BEC in its stationary state with the help of quantum kinetic theory in the second part. Especially, I consider the particle number and phase fluctuations of a BEC emerging from the interaction of the condensed particles with the thermal cloud of atoms. In the third part of my thesis I show how one might realize the Bose-Hubbard model in optical lattices by making use of BEC. In the last part of my work I show how one can realize quantum logic with neutral atoms trapped in either optical lattices or in magnetic microtraps. (author)