Reactions of ultracold alkali-metal dimers

Zuchowski, Piotr S.; Hutson, Jeremy M.

doi:10.1103/physreva.81.060703

Reactions of ultracold alkali-metal dimers

Zuchowski, Piotr S.; Hutson, Jeremy M.

Authors

Piotr S. Zuchowski

Professor Jeremy Hutson j.m.hutson@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

We investigate the energetics of reactions involving pairs of alkali-metal dimers. Atom exchange reactions to form homonuclear dimers are energetically allowed for some but not all of the heteronuclear dimers. We carry out high-level electronic structure calculations on the potential energy surfaces of all the heteronuclear alkali-metal trimers and show that trimer formation reactions are always energetically forbidden for low-lying singlet states of the dimers. The results have important implications for the stability of quantum gases of alkali-metal dimers.

Citation

Zuchowski, P. S., & Hutson, J. M. (2010). Reactions of ultracold alkali-metal dimers. Physical Review A, 81(6), Article 060703. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.81.060703

Journal Article Type	Article
Publication Date	Jan 1, 2010
Deposit Date	Jun 19, 2013
Publicly Available Date	Jun 27, 2013
Journal	Physical Review A
Print ISSN	1050-2947
Electronic ISSN	1094-1622
Publisher	American Physical Society
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	81
Issue	6
Article Number	060703
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.81.060703