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arXiv:2107.10353 · Physical Review A

Reexamination of the ground-state Born-Oppenheimer Yb 2 potential

Giorgio Visentin, Alexei A. Buchachenko, Paweł Tecmer

Published Nov 10, 2021• 4 citations
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Abstract

The precision of the photoassociation spectroscopy of the Yb dimer in degenerate gases is enough to improve the constraints on short-range gravitylike forces if the theoretical knowledge of the Born-Oppenheimer interatomic potential and non-Born-Oppenheimer interactions is refined [Borkowski et al., Sci. Rep. 9, 14807 (2019)]. The ground-state interaction potential of the ytterbium dimer is investigated at the exact two-component core-correlated coupled-cluster method with singles, doubles, and noniterative triples [CCSD(T)] level of ab initio theory in the complete-basis-set limit with extensive augmentation by diffuse functions. For the small basis set the comparison is made with the four-component relativistic finite-nuclei CCSD(T) calculations to identify the contraction of the dimer bond length as the main unrecoverable consequence of the scalar-relativistic approximation. The empirical constraint on the number of bound vibrational energy levels of the $^{174}\mathrm{Yb}_{2}$ dimer is accounted for by representing the global ab initio--based Born-Oppenheimer potential with the model semianalytical function containing the scale and shift parameters. The results support the previous evaluation of the Yb dimer potentials from the photoassociation spectroscopy data and provide an accurate and flexible reference for future refinement of the constraints on short-range gravitylike forces by ultracold atomic spectroscopy.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.104.052807

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The ground-state interaction potential of ytterbium dimer is investigated at eXact 2-component core-correlated CCSD(T) level of {\it ab initio} theory in the complete basis set limit with extensive augmentation by diffuse functions. For the basis set of double-$\zeta$ quality, the comparison is made with the four-component relativistic finite-nuclei CCSD(T) calculations to identify the contraction of the dimer bond length as the main unrecoverable deficiency of the scalar-relativistic approximation. Empirical constraint on the number of bound vibrational energy levels of the $^{174}$Yb$_2$ dimer is accounted for by employing the model semianalytical potential function [M. Borkowski et al. Phys. Rev. A {\bf 96}, 063405 (2017)] containing the scale and shift parameters. Using the best {\it ab initio} data as its short-range part, we estimated the equilibrium parameters of Yb$_2$ dimer as $R_e \in [4.45, 4.55]$ A and $D_e = 745 \pm 10$ cm$^{-1}$. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the model potential provides an accurate and flexible reference for future research in constraining short-range gravity-like forces by ultracold atomic spectroscopy.

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A theoretical analysis of photoassociation in ultracold metastable helium has been undertaken for the 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)S1 to 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)P transition. A full multichannel calculation is presented for two aspects of the system, a) the accurate calculation of energies for the bound vibrational levels of the dimer; and b) the non-perturbative calculation of the photoassociation line shapes allowing for abitrary laser intensity and detuning. A strong emphasis is placed on the accuracy of the calculations, and the elimination of approximations that have been used in previous investigations. The results indicate that full multichannel calculations are required rather than approximate single-channel calculations in some important situations, and are especially useful for making assignments between experiment and theory. Bound levels have been previously measured from the photoassociation of cold metastable thermal gases to energies close to the three asymptotes j = 0, 1, 2 of the 2(^3)S1 → 2(^3)Pj atomic transition. Previous analysis of these measurements was made using either approximate accumulated phase techniques based on long-range single-channel potentials, or using multichannel calculations and long-range potentials. Because accurate short-range electronic potentials have been calculated only recently, this thesis presents the first multichannel calculation for the levels near the j = 1, 2 asymptotes. The new short-range potentials had previously been used in an approximate single-channel calculation, but this type of calculation ignores the effects of non-adiabatic and Coriolis couplings. Presented here are the binding energies calculated from a fully multichannel technique which includes these couplings, and some differences of up to 10% from the single-channel calculations are observed. The detailed knowledge of the bound wave functions is then exploited to determine a set of observability criteria that produce a near unique assignment of theoretical levels to experimental observations. From these unique assignments, a 1% correction to the short-range electronic potentials has been implemented that significantly improves the agreement between theory and experiment. Experimental measurements have previously been made of line shifts in the photoassociation spectra of vibrational levels in the 0+u long-range potential that asymptotes to 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)P0 and their variation with laser intensity. These results were previously analysed by performing an approximate second-order perturbative calculation of the line shift that is valid only for low laser intensities. In this thesis a completely non-perturbative calculation of the spectra and line shapes for abitrary laser intensity is presented for photoassociation to the levels probed in experiment. The techniques of dressed state formalism and a modified radiative coupling are employed to properly treat the laser coupling for large interatomic separations. These calculations produce resonance profiles superimposed on a very significant background, a feature that is not seen in photoassociation calculations of other atomic species. From the calculated line shapes, the line shifts and line widths were determined for varying intensity and a small nonlinear intensity-dependence of up to 2.5% was found for the line shift. The effects of invoking the dipole approximation for the laser coupling for the long-range molecular system are analysed by solving the equations using the complete laser coupling that does not assume the dipole approximation. Important differences are obtained between the profiles with and without the dipole approximation, and the photoassociation resonances are found to be more discernible at larger intensities when the complete laser coupling is used.

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The precision of the photoassociation spectroscopy of the Yb dimer in degenerate gases is enough to improve the constraints on short-range gravitylike forces if the theoretical knowledge of the Born-Oppenheimer interatomic potential and non-Born-Oppenheimer interactions is refined [Borkowski et al., Sci. Rep. 9, 14807 (2019)]. The ground-state interaction potential of the ytterbium dimer is investigated at the exact two-component core-correlated coupled-cluster method with singles, doubles, and noniterative triples [CCSD(T)] level of ab initio theory in the complete-basis-set limit with extensive augmentation by diffuse functions. For the small basis set the comparison is made with the four-component relativistic finite-nuclei CCSD(T) calculations to identify the contraction of the dimer bond length as the main unrecoverable consequence of the scalar-relativistic approximation. The empirical constraint on the number of bound vibrational energy levels of the 174Yb2^{174}\mathrm{Yb}_{2}174Yb2​ dimer is accounted for by representing the global ab initio--based Born-Oppenheimer potential with the model semianalytical function containing the scale and shift parameters. The results support the previous evaluation of the Yb dimer potentials from the photoassociation spectroscopy data and provide an accurate and flexible reference for future refinement of the constraints on short-range gravitylike forces by ultracold atomic spectroscopy.
Ab initio Yb2_22​ ground state potential revisited
The ground-state interaction potential of ytterbium dimer is investigated at eXact 2-component core-correlated CCSD(T) level of {\it ab initio} theory in the complete basis set limit with extensive augmentation by diffuse functions. For the basis set of double-ζ\zetaζ quality, the comparison is made with the four-component relativistic finite-nuclei CCSD(T) calculations to identify the contraction of the dimer bond length as the main unrecoverable deficiency of the scalar-relativistic approximation. Empirical constraint on the number of bound vibrational energy levels of the 174^{174}174Yb2_22​ dimer is accounted for by employing the model semianalytical potential function [M. Borkowski et al. Phys. Rev. A {\bf 96}, 063405 (2017)] containing the scale and shift parameters. Using the best {\it ab initio} data as its short-range part, we estimated the equilibrium parameters of Yb2_22​ dimer as Re∈[4.45,4.55]R_e \in [4.45, 4.55]Re​∈[4.45,4.55] A and De=745±10D_e = 745 \pm 10De​=745±10 cm−1^{-1}−1. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the model potential provides an accurate and flexible reference for future research in constraining short-range gravity-like forces by ultracold atomic spectroscopy.
State-of-the-art ab initio techniques have been applied to compute the potential-energy curves for the ground $X{}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}^{+}$ and excited ${}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{g}(4s3d)$ states of the calcium dimer in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation. The weakly bound ground state was calculated by symmetry-adapted perturbation theory, while the strongly bound excited state was computed using a combination of the linear-response theory within the coupled-cluster singles and doubles framework for the core-valence electronic correlation and of the full configuration interaction for the valence-valence correlation. The ground-state potential has been corrected by considering the relativistic terms resulting from the first-order many-electron Breit theory, and the retardation corrections. The magnetic electronic transition dipole moment governing the ${}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{g}{\ensuremath{\leftarrow}}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}^{+}$ transitions has been obtained as the first residue of the polarization propagator computed with the coupled-cluster method restricted to single and double excitations. The computed energies and transition moments have been analytically fitted and used in the dynamical calculations of the rovibrational energy levels, ground-state scattering length, photoassociation intensities at ultralow temperatures, and spontaneous emission coefficients from the ${}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{g}(4s3d)$ to the $X{}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}_{g}^{+}$ state. The spectroscopic constants of the theoretical ground-state potential are in a good agreement with the experimental values derived from the Fourier-transform spectra [O. Allard et al., Eur. Phys. J. D (to be published)]. The theoretical s-wave scattering length for the ground state is a=44bohrs,a=44\mathrm{bohrs},a=44bohrs, suggesting that it should be possible to obtain a stable Bose-Einstein condensate of calcium atoms. Finally, the computed photoassociation intensities and spontaneous emission coefficients suggest that it should be possible to obtain cold calcium molecules by photoassociation of cold atoms to the first ${}^{1}{\ensuremath{\Pi}}_{g}$ state followed by a spontaneous emission to the ground state.
Low-lying rovibrational levels of Yb2{}_{2}2​ molecules are measured by photoassociation to an accuracy of about 500 Hz. The measurements, in combination with a potential model that includes some beyond-Born-Oppenheimer effects, produce a determination of the sss-wave scattering lengths with error bars which are over two orders of magnitude better than previous determinations.
State-of-the-art ab initio techniques have been applied to compute the potential energy curves for the SrYb molecule in the Born-Oppenheimer approximation for the electronic ground state and the first fifteen excited singlet and triplet states. All the excited state potential energy curves were computed using the equation of motion approach within the coupled-cluster singles and doubles framework and large basis-sets, while the ground state potential was computed using the coupled cluster method with single, double, and noniterative triple excitations. The leading long-range coefficients describing the dispersion interactions at large interatomic distances are also reported. The electric transition dipole moments have been obtained as the first residue of the polarization propagator computed with the linear response coupled-cluster method restricted to single and double excitations. Spin-orbit coupling matrix elements have been evaluated using the multireference configuration interaction method restricted to single and double excitations with a large active space. The electronic structure data were employed to investigate the possibility of forming deeply bound ultracold SrYb molecules in an optical lattice in a photoassociation experiment using continuous-wave lasers. Photoassociation near the intercombination line transition of atomic strontium into the vibrational levels of the strongly spin-orbit mixed b(3)Σ(+), a(3)Π, A(1)Π, and C(1)Π states with subsequent efficient stabilization into the v'' = 1 vibrational level of the electronic ground state is proposed. Ground state SrYb molecules can be accumulated by making use of collisional decay from v'' = 1 to v'' = 0. Alternatively, photoassociation and stabilization to v'' = 0 can proceed via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage provided that the trapping frequency of the optical lattice is large enough and phase coherence between the pulses can be maintained over at least tens of microseconds.
The pair potential for helium is computed with accuracy improved by an order of magnitude relative to the best previous determination. For the well region, its uncertainties are now below 1 millikelvin. The main improvement is due to the use of explicitly correlated wave functions at the nonrelativistic Born-Oppenheimer (BO) level of theory. The diagonal BO and the relativistic corrections are obtained from large full configuration interaction calculations. Nonadiabatic perturbation theory is used to predict the properties of the halo state of the helium dimer. Its binding energy and the average value of the interatomic distance are found to be 138.9(5) neV and 47.13(8) Å. The binding energy agrees with its first experimental determination of 151.9(13.3) neV [Zeller et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 113, 14651 (2016)PNASA60027-842410.1073/pnas.1610688113].
A theoretical analysis of photoassociation in ultracold metastable helium has been undertaken for the 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)S1 to 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)P transition. A full multichannel calculation is presented for two aspects of the system, a) the accurate calculation of energies for the bound vibrational levels of the dimer; and b) the non-perturbative calculation of the photoassociation line shapes allowing for abitrary laser intensity and detuning. A strong emphasis is placed on the accuracy of the calculations, and the elimination of approximations that have been used in previous investigations. The results indicate that full multichannel calculations are required rather than approximate single-channel calculations in some important situations, and are especially useful for making assignments between experiment and theory. Bound levels have been previously measured from the photoassociation of cold metastable thermal gases to energies close to the three asymptotes j = 0, 1, 2 of the 2(^3)S1 → 2(^3)Pj atomic transition. Previous analysis of these measurements was made using either approximate accumulated phase techniques based on long-range single-channel potentials, or using multichannel calculations and long-range potentials. Because accurate short-range electronic potentials have been calculated only recently, this thesis presents the first multichannel calculation for the levels near the j = 1, 2 asymptotes. The new short-range potentials had previously been used in an approximate single-channel calculation, but this type of calculation ignores the effects of non-adiabatic and Coriolis couplings. Presented here are the binding energies calculated from a fully multichannel technique which includes these couplings, and some differences of up to 10% from the single-channel calculations are observed. The detailed knowledge of the bound wave functions is then exploited to determine a set of observability criteria that produce a near unique assignment of theoretical levels to experimental observations. From these unique assignments, a 1% correction to the short-range electronic potentials has been implemented that significantly improves the agreement between theory and experiment. Experimental measurements have previously been made of line shifts in the photoassociation spectra of vibrational levels in the 0+u long-range potential that asymptotes to 2(^3)S1 + 2(^3)P0 and their variation with laser intensity. These results were previously analysed by performing an approximate second-order perturbative calculation of the line shift that is valid only for low laser intensities. In this thesis a completely non-perturbative calculation of the spectra and line shapes for abitrary laser intensity is presented for photoassociation to the levels probed in experiment. The techniques of dressed state formalism and a modified radiative coupling are employed to properly treat the laser coupling for large interatomic separations. These calculations produce resonance profiles superimposed on a very significant background, a feature that is not seen in photoassociation calculations of other atomic species. From the calculated line shapes, the line shifts and line widths were determined for varying intensity and a small nonlinear intensity-dependence of up to 2.5% was found for the line shift. The effects of invoking the dipole approximation for the laser coupling for the long-range molecular system are analysed by solving the equations using the complete laser coupling that does not assume the dipole approximation. Important differences are obtained between the profiles with and without the dipole approximation, and the photoassociation resonances are found to be more discernible at larger intensities when the complete laser coupling is used.