Efimov states and bound state properties in selected nuclear and molecular three-body systems

S. A. Pozdneev

Theoretical Physics

Yu. N. Ovchinnikov, Israel Michael Sigal

Pablo G. Ortega

The emergence of the Efimov effect in the D * D * D * system is explored under the assumption that the heavy partner of the T c c + exists as a D * D * molecule with ( I ) J P = ( 0 ) 1 + . The three-to-three relativistic scattering amplitude is obtained from the ladder amplitude formalism, built from an energy-dependent contact two-body potential where the molecular component of the T c c * state can be varied. We find that ( I ) J P = ( 1 2 ) 0 − three-body bound states can be formed, with properties that suggest that the Efimov effect can be realized for reasonable values of the molecular probability and binding energy of the T c c * . Published by the American Physical Society 2024

A. R. P. Rau

Efimov's prediction more than three decades ago that three-body bound states can exist when the pairwise attractions do not bind or only support weakly bound states of a pair, has remained unconfirmed till just the past year. This lecture provides the pedagogical background for recent work on Efimov states in neutron-rich nuclei done with I. Mazumdar (TIFR) and V. S. Bhasin (Delhi University), and published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 062503 (2006). Both these nuclear systems and recent observations of cold cesium atoms provide the first clear evidence for the existence of Efimov states.

Thomas Lompe, T. B. Ottenstein, Friedhelm Serwane +3 more

Few-Body Problem Seemingly simple, quantum mechanical few-body systems are notoriously difficult to describe. Efimov trimers, three-body bound states with interactions tuned to be in close vicinity of the formation of two-body bound states, are the most tractable of these systems, with relevance, for example, in nuclear physics. Observed recently in ultracold atomic gases through their signatures in the rate of inelastic three-body collisions, Efimov trimers are predicted to appear at interaction strengths whose ratios are universally specified. By measuring binding energy as a function of interaction strength, Lompe et al. (p. 940 ) directly observed the association of three distinguishable atoms into a bound state. This technique may enable more precise studies of the trimer state, potentially revealing the nature of nonuniversal corrections suggested by prior experiments.