Bound states and inelastic scattering of 3Σu+ Rb2 - He

Alexander Konstantinovich Motovilov, S. A. Sofianos, Elena A. Kolganova

Alexandra Viel, Jean–Michel Launay

We present quantum-scattering calculations of (4)He and (3)He colliding with (87)Rb2. For both helium isotopes, the elastic and inelastic rate coefficients are strongly influenced by the J = 1 partial wave. For the lighter isotope, a strong resonance feature of the J = 1 partial wave is responsible for an extremely efficient vibrational relaxation process. We also perform bound-state calculations of the Rb2He complex for even Rb permutation symmetry and nonzero total angular momentum. The global Rb2He (3)Σu(+) potential-energy surface used supports four bound states for (4)He and a single one for (3)He. We propose an analysis of the (87)Rb2(4)He spectrum separating the contributions of Rb2 rotation and helium motion.

Maykel Leonardo González-Martínez, Jeremy M. Hutson

We have generalized the BOUND and MOLSCAT packages to allow calculations in basis sets where the monomer Hamiltonians are off diagonal and used this capability to carry out bound-state and scattering calculations on $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{NH}$ and $^{4}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{NH}$ as a function of magnetic field. Following the bound-state energies to the point where they cross thresholds gives very precise predictions of the magnetic fields at which zero-energy Feshbach resonances occur. We have used this to locate and characterize two very narrow Feshbach resonances in $^{3}\mathrm{He}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{NH}$. Such resonances can be used to tune elastic and inelastic collision cross sections, and sweeping the magnetic field across them will allow a form of quantum control in which separated atoms and molecules are associated to form complexes. For the first resonance, where only elastic scattering is possible, the scattering length shows a pole as a function of magnetic field and there is a very large peak in the elastic cross section. For the second resonance, however, inelastic scattering is also possible. In this case the pole in the scattering length is dramatically suppressed and the cross sections show relatively small peaks. The peak suppression is expected to be even larger in systems with stronger inelasticity. The results suggest that calculations on ultracold molecular inelastic collisions may be much less sensitive to details of the potential energy surface than has been believed.

Alexander Konstantinovich Motovilov, Werner Sandhas, S. A. Sofianos +1 more

Erhard W. Rothe, R. H. Neynaber, S. M. Trujillo

The velocity (v) dependence of the total cross section (Q) has been measured for the scattering of helium in the metastable 2 3S1 state by ground-state helium, argon, and krypton at relative velocities in the range 1000–3300 m/sec. The results are compared with those previously obtained for the scattering of lithium. For each scattering gas, the shape of Q(v) is similar to that of lithium, but the absolute values for Q are approximately 20% higher. The scattering is largely elastic. It is estimated that the inelastic contribution to Q is about 10% for the He*–He case, and that it is less than 3% for the He*–Ar and He*–Kr cases. The Q(v) for scattering by argon and krypton show undulatory behavior. From the extrema velocities, the product εσ is shown to be close to that for Li scattering, where ε is the depth of the interatomic potential well and σ is the interatomic separation at the zero of the potential. The separate parameters ε and σ are also deduced. A minimum to the number of diatom bound states is established for HeAr(3Σ+) and HeKr(3Σ+).

Alexander Konstantinovich Motovilov, W. Sandhas, S.A. Sofianos +1 more