Inelastic Collisions

P. R. Berman

A radiatively assisted inelastic collision (RAIC) is one in which two atoms collide in the presence of a radiation field to produce a reaction of the form ${A}^{*}+B+\ensuremath{\hbar}\ensuremath{\Omega}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}A+{B}^{*}$. In this paper, a general theory of RAIC is developed with special attention given to the final-state coherences produced by RAIC. These final-state coherences can be monitored by standard experimental techniques (polarization of fluorescence, quantum beats), enabling one to use such studies to gain information on the interatomic potentials that are relevant to the RAIC under consideration.

L.D. LANDAU, E.M. LIFSHITZ

D. V. Skobelʹt︠s︡yn

James P. Shaffer, K. Richard Overstreet, Jonathan Tallant +2 more

Studies of cold Cs Rydberg atom elastic and inelastic collisions will be presented. Elastic collisions are investigated by observing spectral line broadening and shifts. Inelastic collisions are examined by measuring photofragment angle and velocity distributions.

Z. Li, Sergey Alyabyshev, Roman V. Krems

We show that cross sections for inelastic collisions of ultracold atoms or molecules confined by a harmonic potential have the same energy dependence as in pure 2D geometry. This indicates that chemical reactions and inelastic collisions may be suppressed in an ultracold gas under strong confinement in one dimension. We present a numerical proof of the threshold collision laws in 2D. Our results indicate that inelastic collisions in weak electromagnetic fields may be controlled by varying the orientation of the external field axis with respect to the plane of confinement.

Борис М. Смирнов