Bose-Einstein condensation in layered systems

The thermodynamic properties of an ideal gas of bosons moving freely within layered planes and having a finite amplitude for jumping between neighbouring planes, are derived. As long as this coupling is non-zero, the system becomes effectively two-dimensional at sufficiently high temperatures. At a correspondingly low temperature it undergoes a Bose-Einstein transition into a condensed phase as in three dimensions. Below the critical temperature the specific heat is a universal function of only one dimensionless system variable. The phase transition becomes weaker as the coupling between the planes decreases and eventually disappears when the planes decouple. (author)