CaltechAUTHORS
  A Caltech Library Service

Complex collisions of ultracold molecules: A toy model

Yao, Jia K. and Johnson, Cooper A. and Mehta, Nirav P. and Hazzard, Kaden R. A. (2021) Complex collisions of ultracold molecules: A toy model. Physical Review A, 104 (5). Art. No. 053311. ISSN 2469-9926. doi:10.1103/physreva.104.053311. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20211123-163044553

[img] PDF - Published Version
See Usage Policy.

2MB
[img] PDF - Submitted Version
See Usage Policy.

3MB

Use this Persistent URL to link to this item: https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20211123-163044553

Abstract

We introduce a model to study the collisions of two ultracold diatomic molecules in one dimension interacting via pairwise potentials. We present results for this system and argue that it offers lessons for real molecular collisions in three dimensions. We analyze the distribution of the adiabatic potentials in the hyperspherical coordinate representation as well as the distribution of near-threshold four-body bound states, systematically studying the effects of molecular properties, such as interaction strength, interaction range, and atomic mass. It is found that the adiabatic potential's nearest-neighbor energy level distribution transitions from significant level repulsion characteristic of chaos (Brody distribution) to nonchaotic (Poisson distribution) as the two molecules are separated. For the near-threshold four-atom bound states, the case where all atoms have equal masses shows a Poissonian spacing distribution, while the unequal-mass system exhibits significant level repulsion characterized by a nonzero Brody parameter. We derive a semiclassical formula for the density of states and extract from it simple scaling laws with potential depth and range. We find good agreement between the semiclassical predictions for the density of states and the full quantum mechanical calculations.


Item Type:Article
Related URLs:
URLURL TypeDescription
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.104.053311DOIArticle
https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.06960arXivDiscussion Paper
ORCID:
AuthorORCID
Yao, Jia K.0000-0002-3250-6132
Johnson, Cooper A.0000-0003-3488-8274
Mehta, Nirav P.0000-0001-5450-0973
Hazzard, Kaden R. A.0000-0003-2894-7274
Additional Information:© 2021 The Author(s). Published by the American Physical Society. Received 2 August 2021; accepted 15 October 2021; published 10 November 2021. K.R.A.H. acknowledges support in part from funds from the Welch Foundation, Grant No. C-1872, and the National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1848304. K.R.A.H. thanks the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1066293, for its hospitality while part of this work was performed.
Funders:
Funding AgencyGrant Number
Robert A. Welch FoundationC-1872
NSFPHY-1848304
NSFPHY-1066293
Issue or Number:5
DOI:10.1103/physreva.104.053311
Record Number:CaltechAUTHORS:20211123-163044553
Persistent URL:https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20211123-163044553
Usage Policy:No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided.
ID Code:112000
Collection:CaltechAUTHORS
Deposited By: Tony Diaz
Deposited On:23 Nov 2021 16:42
Last Modified:23 Nov 2021 16:42

Repository Staff Only: item control page