Adiabatic hyperspherical study of weakly bound helium–helium–alkali-metal triatomic systems
Hiroya Suno, Brett D. Esry
$^{4}\mathrm{He}$${}_{2}$--alkali-metal triatomic molecular systems are studied using the adiabatic hyperspherical representation. By adopting the best pairwise He-He and He-$X$ interaction potentials, we search for weakly bound states of $^{4}\mathrm{He}$${}_{2}$$X$ systems with $X={}^{6}$Li, $^{7}\mathrm{Li}$, $^{23}\mathrm{Na}$, $^{39}\mathrm{K}$, $^{40}\mathrm{K}$, $^{41}\mathrm{K}$, $^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$, $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$, and $^{133}\mathrm{Cs}$. We consider not only zero total angular momentum $J=0$ states, but also $J>0$ states. We find that the $^{4}\mathrm{He}$${}_{2}^{6}$Li and $^{4}\mathrm{He}$${}_{2}^{7}$Li systems each possess two bound states with ${J}^{\ensuremath{\Pi}}={0}^{+}$ symmetry and none with $J>0$, while the other $^{4}\mathrm{He}$${}_{2}$--alkali-metal species are found to support one ${0}^{+}$ and one ${1}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ bound state. We calculate the bound-state energies of these molecular species and discuss the essential features of the wave functions associated with these bound states.
Physical Review A•Dec 29, 2010•24 citations