Magnetic Field Dependence of Ultracold Inelastic Collisions near a Feshbach Resonance
Jacob Roberts, N. R. Claussen, Simon L. Cornish +1 more
Inelastic collision rates for ultracold ${}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms in the $F\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}2$, ${m}_{f}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}\ensuremath{-}2$ state have been measured as a function of magnetic field. At 250 gauss (G), the two- and three-body loss rates were measured to be ${K}_{2}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}(1.87\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.95\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.19)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}14}{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{s}$ and ${K}_{3}\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}=\phantom{\rule{0ex}{0ex}}({4.24}_{\ensuremath{-}0.29}^{+0.70}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.85)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}25}{\mathrm{cm}}^{6}/\mathrm{s}$, respectively. As the magnetic field is decreased from 250 G towards a Feshbach resonance at 155 G, the inelastic rates decrease to a minimum and then increase dramatically, peaking at the Feshbach resonance. Both two- and three-body losses are important, and individual contributions have been compared with theory.
arXiv:physics/0003027•Physical Review Letters•Jul 24, 2000•196 citations