arXiv:1104.3674 · Physical Review A
Hyperfine, rotational, and Zeeman structure of the lowest vibrational levels of the Rb87 2 (1) 3Σg+ state
T. Takekoshi, Christoph Strauß, Florian J. W. Lang, Johannes Hecker Denschlag, Marius Lysebo, Leif Veseth
Abstract
We present the results of an experimental and theoretical study of the electronically excited $(1){}^{3}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{\mathrm{g}}^{+}$ state of $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$${}_{2}$ molecules. The vibrational energies are measured for deeply bound states from the bottom up to ${v}^{\ensuremath{'}}=15$ using laser spectroscopy of ultracold Rb${}_{2}$ Feshbach molecules. The spectrum of each vibrational state is dominated by a 47-GHz splitting into ${0}_{\mathrm{g}}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ and ${1}_{\mathrm{g}}$ components caused mainly by a strong second-order spin-orbit interaction. Our spectroscopy fully resolves the rotational, hyperfine, and Zeeman structure of the spectrum. We are able to describe this structure to the first order using a simplified effective Hamiltonian.