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arXiv:1009.5703 · Physical Review A

Few-body resonances of unequal-mass systems with infinite interspecies two-body s -wave scattering length

D. Blume, K. M. Daily

Published Dec 9, 2010• 22 citations
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Abstract

Two-component Fermi and Bose gases with infinitely large interspecies $s$-wave scattering length ${a}_{s}$ exhibit a variety of intriguing properties. Among these are the scale invariance of two-component Fermi gases with equal masses, and the favorable scaling of Efimov features for two-component Bose gases and Bose-Fermi mixtures with unequal masses. This paper builds on our earlier work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 170403 (2010)] and presents a detailed discussion of our studies of small unequal-mass two-component systems with infinite ${a}_{s}$ in the regime where three-body Efimov physics is absent. We report on nonuniversal few-body resonances. Just like with two-body systems on resonance, few-body systems have a zero-energy bound state in free space and a diverging generalized scattering length. Our calculations are performed within a nonperturbative microscopic framework and investigate the energetics and structural properties of small unequal-mass two-component systems as functions of the mass ratio $\ensuremath{\kappa}$, and the numbers ${N}_{1}$ and ${N}_{2}$ of heavy and light atoms. For purely attractive Gaussian two-body interactions, we find that the $({N}_{1},{N}_{2})=(2,1)$ and $(3,1)$ systems exhibit three-body and four-body resonances at mass ratios $\ensuremath{\kappa}=12.314(2)$ and $10.4(2)$, respectively. The three- and four-particle systems on resonance are found to be large. It seems feasible that the features discussed in this paper can be probed experimentally with present-day technology.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.82.063612

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This thesis reports on the investigation of few-body physics in an \nultracold mass-imbalanced mixture at large scattering lengths. For this purpose, a \nnew apparatus for the creation of quantum degenerate 6Li and 133Cs gases has been \nbuilt. We measure 19 interspecies Feshbach resonances in the two energetically lowest \nhyperfine channels of each species of an ultracold mixture with temperatures on \nthe uK scale. We apply and compare a coupled-channels calculation, the asymptotic \nbound-state model, and the multichannel quantum defect theory for the calculation \nof the Feshbach resonance positions. All models provide a consistent and accurate \ndescription of the two-body scattering resonances in the mixture. Three-body loss \nrate measurements on the negative scattering length side of a broad Feshbach resonance \nin the energetically lowest hyperfine channel at 450 nK reveal two consecutive \nEfimov resonances. The scattering lengths assigned to the two Efimov resonances \nyield a scaling ratio that is consistent with a universal prediction in the zero temperature \nand resonant limit. The presented measurements provide the first test for \nuniversal few-body theories of mixed-species systems with large mass-imbalance.

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Two-component Fermi and Bose gases with infinitely large interspecies sss-wave scattering length as{a}_{s}as​ exhibit a variety of intriguing properties. Among these are the scale invariance of two-component Fermi gases with equal masses, and the favorable scaling of Efimov features for two-component Bose gases and Bose-Fermi mixtures with unequal masses. This paper builds on our earlier work [Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 170403 (2010)] and presents a detailed discussion of our studies of small unequal-mass two-component systems with infinite as{a}_{s}as​ in the regime where three-body Efimov physics is absent. We report on nonuniversal few-body resonances. Just like with two-body systems on resonance, few-body systems have a zero-energy bound state in free space and a diverging generalized scattering length. Our calculations are performed within a nonperturbative microscopic framework and investigate the energetics and structural properties of small unequal-mass two-component systems as functions of the mass ratio \ensuremathκ\ensuremath{\kappa}\ensuremathκ, and the numbers N1{N}_{1}N1​ and N2{N}_{2}N2​ of heavy and light atoms. For purely attractive Gaussian two-body interactions, we find that the (N1,N2)=(2,1)({N}_{1},{N}_{2})=(2,1)(N1​,N2​)=(2,1) and (3,1)(3,1)(3,1) systems exhibit three-body and four-body resonances at mass ratios \ensuremathκ=12.314(2)\ensuremath{\kappa}=12.314(2)\ensuremathκ=12.314(2) and 10.4(2)10.4(2)10.4(2), respectively. The three- and four-particle systems on resonance are found to be large. It seems feasible that the features discussed in this paper can be probed experimentally with present-day technology.
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Few-body effects play an important role for the understanding of ultracold quantum gases. We make use of an effective field theory approach to investigate various aspects of universal few-body physics close to a Feshbach resonance. That is the regime where the scattering length is large compared to all other length scales of the system and thus determines the observables. It is also the regime where the Efimov effect whose main characteristic is the occurrence of a sequence of three-body bound states becomes important. At unitarity, i.e., for diverging scattering length, the ratio of binding energies of neighboring states approaches a constant. The existence of those trimers can be captured by a single three-body parameter and influences observables such as recombination rates. Starting from adequate Lagrangians, we derive atom-dimer scattering amplitudes that contain all information of interest about the three-particle systems. With this method, we first investigate the scattering of atoms and dimers at finite temperature in the presence of the Efimov effect. We calculate the dimer relaxation rate and obtain good agreement with available experimental data. Furthermore, heteronuclear mixtures exhibiting large interspecies scattering length are studied in detail. If bosons are the majority species, the Efimov effect occurs in an S-wave channel and we are able to compute three-body recombination and dimer relaxation rates. The results are compared to the outcome of two existing experiments. For mainly fermionic systems, the Efimov effect is only present in an overall P-wave and three-body recombination at threshold vanishes. However, in mixtures of atoms and dimers, scattering cross sections and dimer relaxation show the typical Efimov behavior of log-periodicity. We also consider two-dimensional Bose gases, where the Efimov effect does not occur. For those systems, we derive an equation including the first non-universal corrections and deduce three-body observables such as binding energies and atom-dimer scattering parameters.
Two-component equal-mass Fermi gases, in which unlike atoms interact through a short-range two-body potential and like atoms do not interact, are stable even when the interspecies sss-wave scattering length becomes infinitely large. Solving the many-body Schr\"odinger equation within a hyperspherical framework and by Monte Carlo techniques, this paper investigates how the properties of trapped two-component gases change if a third or fourth component are added. If all interspecies scattering lengths are equal and negative, our calculations suggest that both three- and four-component Fermi gases become unstable for a certain critical set of parameters. The relevant length scale associated with the collapse is set by the interspecies scattering length and we argue that the collapse is similar to the collapse of an attractive trapped Bose gas, a many-body phenomenon. Furthermore, we consider a three-component Fermi gas in which two interspecies scattering lengths are negative while the other interspecies scattering length is zero. In this case, the stability of the Fermi system is predicted to depend appreciably on the range of the underlying two-body potential. We find parameter combinations for which the system appears to become unstable for a finite negative scattering length and parameter combinations for which the system appears to be made up of weakly bound trimers that consist of one fermion of each species.
Motivated by recent experimental investigations of Cs-Cs-Li Efimov resonances, this work theoretically investigates the few-body properties of $N\ensuremath{-}1$ noninteracting identical heavy bosons, which interact with a light impurity through a large sss-wave scattering length. For Cs-Cs-Cs-Li, we predict the existence of universal four-body states with energies E4(n,1){E}_{4}^{(n,1)}E4(n,1)​ and E4(n,2){E}_{4}^{(n,2)}E4(n,2)​, which are universally linked to the energy E3(n){E}_{3}^{(n)}E3(n)​ of the nnnth Efimov trimer. For infinitely large $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ and vanishing $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$ scattering lengths, we find $({E}_{4}^{(1,1)}/{E}_{3}^{(1)}{)}^{1/2}\ensuremath{\approx}1.51$ and $({E}_{4}^{(1,2)}/{E}_{3}^{(1)}{)}^{1/2}\ensuremath{\approx}1.01$. The $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{6}\mathrm{Li}$ scattering lengths at which these states merge with the four-atom threshold, the dependence of these energy ratios on the mass ratio between the heavy and light atoms, and selected aspects of the generalized Efimov scenario for N>4N>4N>4 are also discussed. Possible implications of our results for ongoing cold atom experiments are presented.
Small weakly bound droplets determine a number of properties of ultracold Bose and Fermi gases. For example, Efimov trimers near the atom-atom-atom and atom-dimer thresholds lead to enhanced losses from bosonic clouds. Generalizations to four- and higher-body systems have also been considered. Moreover, Efimov trimers have been predicted to play a role in the Bose polaron with large boson-impurity scattering length. Motivated by these considerations, the present work provides a detailed theoretical analysis of weakly bound NNN-body clusters consisting of $N\ensuremath{-}1$ identical bosons (denoted by ``B'') of mass mmm that interact with a single distinguishable impurity particle (denoted by ``X'') of mass MMM. The system properties are analyzed as a function of the mass ratio $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ (values from $\ensuremath{\kappa}=1$ to 50 are considered), where $\ensuremath{\kappa}$ is equal to m/Mm/Mm/M, and the two-body sss-wave scattering length aBX{a}_{\text{BX}}aBX​ between the bosons and the impurity. To reach the universal Efimov regime in which the size of the BBX trimer as well as those of larger clusters is much larger than the length scales of the underlying interaction model, three different approaches are considered: resonance states are determined in the absence of BB and BBX interactions, bound states are determined in the presence of repulsive three-body boson-boson-impurity interactions, and bound states are determined in the presence of repulsive two-body boson-boson interactions. The universal regime, in which the details of the underlying interaction model become irrelevant, is identified.
This thesis reports on the investigation of few-body physics in an \nultracold mass-imbalanced mixture at large scattering lengths. For this purpose, a \nnew apparatus for the creation of quantum degenerate 6Li and 133Cs gases has been \nbuilt. We measure 19 interspecies Feshbach resonances in the two energetically lowest \nhyperfine channels of each species of an ultracold mixture with temperatures on \nthe uK scale. We apply and compare a coupled-channels calculation, the asymptotic \nbound-state model, and the multichannel quantum defect theory for the calculation \nof the Feshbach resonance positions. All models provide a consistent and accurate \ndescription of the two-body scattering resonances in the mixture. Three-body loss \nrate measurements on the negative scattering length side of a broad Feshbach resonance \nin the energetically lowest hyperfine channel at 450 nK reveal two consecutive \nEfimov resonances. The scattering lengths assigned to the two Efimov resonances \nyield a scaling ratio that is consistent with a universal prediction in the zero temperature \nand resonant limit. The presented measurements provide the first test for \nuniversal few-body theories of mixed-species systems with large mass-imbalance.