Deviation from Universality in Collisions of Ultracold $^6$Li$_2$ Molecules
Abstract
Collisions of Li molecules with free Li atoms reveal a striking deviation from universal predictions based on long-range van der Waals interactions. Li closed-channel molecules are formed in the highest vibrational state near a narrow Feshbach resonance, and decay via two-body collisions with Li, Li, and Na. For Li+Li and Li+Na, the decay rates agree with the universal predictions of the quantum Langevin model. In contrast, the rate for Li+Li is exceptionally small, with an upper bound ten times smaller than the universal prediction. This can be explained by the low density of available decay states in systems of light atoms [G. Qu\'em\'ener, J.-M. Launay, and P. Honvault, Phys. Rev. A \textbf{75}, 050701 (2007)], for which such collisions have not been studied before.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1301.3566,
title = {Deviation from Universality in Collisions of Ultracold $^6$Li$_2$ Molecules},
author = {Tout T. Wang and Myoung-Sun Heo and Timur M. Rvachov and Dylan A. Cotta and Wolfgang Ketterle},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.3566},
year = {2013}
}
Comments
5 pages, 5 figures