2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/18566We compare the equilibrium solution for the condensate obtained in the mean--field approximation to the master equation for sympathetic cooling with the one obtained by Scully for a system in contact with a heat bath with the help of an analogy with the laser. While the mean--field approach yields analytical formulas for the approach towards equilibrium and for the equilibrium solution, it neglects the correlations between occupation numbers of different single--particle states which are approximately kept in Scully's approach. Such neglect is admissible as long as the fraction of Bosons in the condensate does not exceed a few percent or so.Condensed Mattertext