We theoretically investigate various beyond mean-field effects on Bose gases at zero temperature featuring the anisotropic and long-range dipole-dipole interaction in addition to the isotropic and short-range contact interaction. Within the realm of the Bogoliubov–de Gennes theory, we consider static properties and low-lying excitations of both homogeneous and harmonically trapped dipolar bosonic gases. For the homogeneous system, the condensate depletion, the ground-state energy, the equation of state, and the speed of sound are discussed in detail. Making use of the local density approximation, we extend these results in order to study the properties of a dipolar Bose gas in a harmonic trap and in the regime of large particle numbers. After deriving the equations of motion for the general case of a triaxial trap, we analyze the influence of quantum fluctuations on important properties of the gas, such as the equilibrium configuration and the low-lying excitations in the case of a cylinder-symmetric trap. In addition to the monopole and quadrupole oscillation modes, we also discuss the radial quadrupole mode. We find that the latter acquires a quantum correction exclusively due to the dipole-dipole interaction. As a result, we identify the radial quadrupole as a reasonably accessible source for the signature of dipolar many-body effects and stress the enhancing character that dipolar interactions have for quantum fluctuations in the other oscillation modes.
