Related papers: Cold collisions of an open-shell S-state atom with…
We calculate the interaction potential between N atoms and NH molecules and use it to investigate cold and ultracold collisions important for sympathetic cooling. The ratio of elastic to inelastic cross sections is large over a wide range…
We develop a rigorous quantum mechanical theory for collisions of polyatomic molecular radicals with S-state atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. The theory is based on a fully uncoupled space-fixed basis set representation…
The prospects of sympathetic cooling of polar molecules with magnetically co-trapped alkali-metal atoms are generally considered poor due to strongly anisotropic atom-molecule interactions leading to large spin relaxation rates. Using…
We present a multichannel scattering calculation of elastic and inelastic cold collisions between two low-field seeking, metastable ^{88}Sr [(5s5p) ^3P_2] atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. The scattering physics is…
Ultracold collisions of polar OH molecules are considered in the presence of an electrostatic field. The field exerts a strong influence on both elastic and state-changing inelastic collision rate constants, leading to clear experimental…
Collision cross sections and rate constants between two ground- state oxygen molecules are investigated theoretically at translational energies below $\sim 1$K and in zero magnetic field. We present calculations for elastic and spin-…
Collisions of polar $^{1}\Sigma$ state molecules at ultralow energies are considered, within a model that accounts for long-range dipole-dipole interactions, plus rotation of the molecules. We predict a substantial suppression of…
We present an experimental and theoretical study of atom-molecule collisions in a mixture of cold, trapped atomic nitrogen and NH molecules at a temperature of $\sim 600$~mK. We measure a small N+NH trap loss rate coefficient of…
We use numerically exact quantum dynamics calculations to demonstrate universal stereoselectivity of cold collisions of $^2\Pi$ molecules with $^1$S-state atoms in an external electric field. We show that cold collisions of OH molecules in…
We present a rigorous quantum scattering study of the effects of hyperfine and Zeeman interactions on cold Li - H$_{2}$ collisions in the presence of an external magnetic field using a recent ab initio potential energy surface. We find that…
Cold collisions of $^{14}$N$^{16}$O molecules in the $^{2}\Pi_{1/2}$ ground state, subject to electric and magnetic fields, are investigated. It is found that elastic collision rates significantly exceed state-changing inelastic rates only…
We consider cold collisions of OH molecules in the $^2\Pi_{3/2}$ 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…
We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of collision-induced dipolar relaxation in a cold spin-polarized gas of atomic nitrogen (N). We use buffer gas cooling to create trapped samples of 14N and 15N atoms with densities…
We develop an analytic model of thermal state-to-state rotationally inelastic collisions of asymmetric-top molecules with closed-shell atoms in electric fields, and apply it to the Ar--H$_2$O collision system. The predicted cross sections…
We show theoretically that ultracold hydrogen atoms have very favorable properties for sympathetic cooling of molecules to microkelvin temperatures. We calculate the potential energy surfaces for spin-polarized interactions of H atoms with…
We explore the potential energy surfaces for NH molecules interacting with alkali-metal and alkaline-earth atoms using highly correlated ab-initio electronic structure calculations. The surfaces for interaction with alkali-metal atoms have…
Elastic and spin-changing inelastic collision cross sections are presented for cold and ultracold magnetically trapped NH. The cross sections are obtained from coupled-channel scattering calculations as a function of energy and magnetic…
We present the first experimental observation of cold collisions between two different species of neutral polar molecules, each prepared in a single internal quantum state. Combining for the first time the techniques of Stark deceleration,…
We present a rigorous theoretical study of low-temperature collisions of polyatomic molecular radicals with ^1S_0 atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on ab initio and scaled…
Collisions between cold molecules are essential for studying fundamental aspects of quantum chemistry, and may enable formation of quantum degenerate molecular matter by evaporative cooling. However, collisions between trapped, naturally…