Complexes formed in collisions between ultracold alkali-metal diatomic molecules and atoms

Frye, Matthew D; Hutson, Jeremy M

doi:10.1088/1367-2630/ac3ff8

Complexes formed in collisions between ultracold alkali-metal diatomic molecules and atoms

Frye, Matthew D; Hutson, Jeremy M

Authors

Matthew Frye matthew.frye@durham.ac.uk
Academic Visitor

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

Abstract

We explore the properties of three-atom complexes of alkali-metal diatomic molecules with alkali-metal atoms, which may be formed in ultracold collisions. We estimate the densities of vibrational states at the energy of atom–diatom collisions, and find values ranging from 2.2 to 350 K−1. However, this density does not account for electronic near-degeneracy or electron and nuclear spins. We consider the fine and hyperfine structure expected for such complexes. The Fermi contact interaction between electron and nuclear spins can cause spin exchange between atomic and molecular spins. It can drive inelastic collisions, with resonances of three distinct types, each with a characteristic width and peak height in the inelastic rate coefficient. Some of these resonances are broad enough to overlap and produce a background loss rate that is approximately proportional to the number of outgoing inelastic channels. Spin exchange can increase the density of states from which laser-induced loss may occur.

Citation

Frye, M. D., & Hutson, J. M. (2021). Complexes formed in collisions between ultracold alkali-metal diatomic molecules and atoms. New Journal of Physics, 23(12), Article 125008. https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac3ff8

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Dec 3, 2021
Online Publication Date	Dec 29, 2021
Publication Date	2021-12
Deposit Date	Jan 18, 2022
Publicly Available Date	Feb 18, 2022
Journal	New Journal of Physics
Publisher	IOP Publishing
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	23
Issue	12
Article Number	125008
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/ac3ff8
Related Public URLs	https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.07435

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