Influence of magnetic fields on cold collisions of polar molecules
Atomic Physics
2009-11-10 v1
Abstract
We consider cold collisions of OH molecules in the grounds state, under the influnce of a magnetic field. We find that modest fields of several thousand gauss can act to suppress inelastic collisions of weak-field seeking states by two orders of magnitude. We attribute this suppression to two factors: (i) An indirect coupling of the entrance and the exit channel, in contrast to the effect of an applied electric field; and (ii) the realtive motion of the entrance and exit scattering thresholds. In view of these results, magnetic trapping of OH may prove feasible.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0410023,
title = {Influence of magnetic fields on cold collisions of polar molecules},
author = {Christopher Ticknor and John L. Bohn},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0410023},
year = {2009}
}