Ultracold RbSr Molecules Can Be Formed by Magnetoassociation
Piotr Szymon Żuchowski, J. Aldegunde, Jeremy M. Hutson
We investigate the interactions between ultracold alkali-metal atoms and closed-shell atoms using electronic structure calculations on the prototype system Rb+Sr. There are molecular bound states that can be tuned across atomic thresholds with a magnetic field and previously neglected terms in the collision Hamiltonian that can produce zero-energy Feshbach resonances with significant widths. The largest effect comes from the interaction-induced variation of the Rb hyperfine coupling. The resonances may be used to form paramagnetic polar molecules if the magnetic field can be controlled precisely enough.
arXiv:1006.3006•Physical Review Letters•Oct 6, 2010•116 citations