Related papers: Shielding $^2\Sigma$ ultracold dipolar molecular c…
We determine trapping conditions for ultracold polar molecules, where pairs of internal states experience identical trapping potentials. Such conditions could ensure that detrimental effects of inevitable inhomogeneities across an ultracold…
By applying a circularly polarized and slightly blue-detuned microwave field with respect to the first excited rotational state of a dipolar molecule, one can engineer a long-range, shallow potential well in the entrance channel of the two…
We carry out calculations on $M$-changing collisions of NH ($^3\Sigma^-$) molecules in magnetically trappable states using a recently calculated potential energy surface. We show that elastic collision rates are much faster than inelastic…
Ultracold polar molecules offer the possibility of exploring quantum gases with interparticle interactions that are strong, long-range, and spatially anisotropic. This is in stark contrast to the dilute gases of ultracold atoms, which have…
Microscopic control over polar molecules with tunable interactions would enable realization of novel quantum phenomena. Using an applied electric field gradient, we demonstrate layer-resolved state preparation and imaging of ultracold…
We predict that pairs of polar molecules can be weakly bound together in an ultracold environment, provided that a dc electric field is present. The field that links the molecules together also strongly influences the basic properties 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…
Ultracold molecules undergo "sticky collisions" that result in loss even for chemically nonreactive molecules. Sticking times can be enhanced by orders of magnitude by interactions that lead to non-conservation of nuclear spin or total…
We discuss laser dressed dipolar and Van der Waals interactions between atoms and polar molecules, so that a cold atomic gas with laser admixed Rydberg levels acts as a designed reservoir for both elastic and inelastic collisional…
We discuss techniques to engineer effective long-range interactions between polar molecules using external static electric and microwave fields. We consider a setup where molecules are trapped in a two-dimensional pancake geometry by a…
We investigate the effective potential and scattering length of ultracold polar molecules under different shielding techniques. First, we derive the effective potential for two polar molecules in the presence of an elliptical polarization…
We propose a method to suppress collisional loss in strongly dipolar, rotationally excited ultracold molecules using a combination of static (dc) and microwave (ac) electric fields. By tuning two excited pair molecular rotational states…
The control of ultrafast molecular rotational motion has benefited from the development of innovative techniques in strong-field laser physics. Here, we theoretically demonstrate a novel type of coherent control by inducing rotation of an…
It has recently become possible to form molecules in ultracold gases of trapped alkali metal atoms. Once formed, the molecules may undergo elastic, inelastic and reactive collisions. Inelastic and reactive collisions are particularly…
We study the fully itinerant dynamics of ultracold but nondegenerate polar molecules with a spin-$1/2$ degree of freedom encoded into two of their electric field dressed rotational states. Center of mass molecular motion is constrained to…
We investigate the properties of two interacting ultracold polar molecules described as distinguishable quantum rigid rotors, trapped in a one-dimensional harmonic potential. The molecules interact via a multichannel two-body contact…
We predict that ultralong-range Rydberg bi-molecules form in collisions between polar molecules in cold and ultracold settings. The collision of $\Lambda$-doublet nitric oxide (NO) with long-lived Rydberg NO($nf$, $ng$) molecules forms…
We investigate theoretically the long-range electrostatic interactions between a ground-state homonuclear alkali-metal dimer and an excited alkali-metal atom taking into account its fine-structure. The interaction involves the combination…
Exploring inelastic and reactive collisions on the quantum level is a main goal of the developing field of ultracold chemistry. We present first experimental studies of inelastic collisions of metastable ultracold triplet molecules in the…
We show that the electric dipole-dipole interaction between a pair of polar molecules undergoes an all-out transformation when superimposed by a far-off resonant optical field. The combined interaction potential becomes tunable by variation…