Photoassociative molecular spectroscopy for atomic radiative lifetimes

TL;DR

This paper reviews how photoassociative spectroscopy of cold atoms in long-range molecular states can accurately determine atomic radiative lifetimes, serving as sensitive tests for atomic calculations.

Contribution

It provides a systematic review of atomic lifetime determinations via photoassociative spectroscopy, emphasizing accuracy and covering various atomic species.

Findings

High-resolution spectroscopy yields precise atomic lifetimes.

Photoassociative spectroscopy effectively tests atomic calculations.

Systematic review highlights accuracy issues in lifetime measurements.

Abstract

When the atoms of a dimer remain most of the time very far apart, in so-called long-range molecular states, their mutual interaction is ruled by plain atomic properties. The high-resolution spectroscopic study of some molecular excited states populated by photoassociation of cold atoms (photoassociative spectroscopy) gives a good illustration of this property. It provides accurate determinations of atomic radiative lifetimes, which are known to be sensitive tests for atomic calculations. A number of such analyses has been performed up to now, for all stable alkali atoms and for some other atomic species (Ca, Sr, Yb). A systematic review of these determinations is attempted here, with special attention paid to accuracy issues.