Rotational-state dependence of interactions between polar molecules
Abstract
The long-range electrostatic interactions between molecules depend strongly on their relative orientation, which manifests as a rotational state dependence. Interactions between molecules in the same rotational quantum state are well-known attractive rotational van der Waals interactions. Interactions in rotational states that differ by one quantum show resonant dipole-dipole interactions. We show that where molecules are in rotational states that differ by more than one quantum, they exhibit repulsive van der Waals interactions. At temperatures below a millikelvin, this effect can reduce collisional loss by multiple orders of magnitude. These repulsive interactions lead to applications in quantum simulation and impurity physics with ultracold polar molecules.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2401.05958,
title = {Rotational-state dependence of interactions between polar molecules},
author = {Etienne F. Walraven and Tijs Karman},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2401.05958},
year = {2024}
}
Comments
Published in Physical Review A. Updated Fig. 3 and arXiv reference