Center of Mass Momentum Dependent Interaction Between Ultracold Atoms

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a novel two-body interaction in ultracold gases where the interaction depends on the center of mass momentum, achieved through laser-modulated magnetic Feshbach resonance and Doppler effects.

Contribution

It introduces a new CoM-momentum dependent interaction mechanism in ultracold atoms using laser-modulated Feshbach resonance and Raman transitions.

Findings

CoM-momentum dependence of two-atom scattering length demonstrated

Laser modulation enables control of two-body interactions via Doppler effects

Effective interactions remain consistent with simple kinetic energy Hamiltonian

Abstract

We show that a new type of two-body interaction, which depends on the momentum of the center of mass (CoM) of these two particles, can be realized in ultracold atom gases with a laser-modulaed magnetic Feshbach resonance (MFR). Here the MFR is modulated by two laser beams propagating along different directions, which can induce Raman transition between two-body bound states. The Doppler effect causes the two-atom scattering length to be strongly dependent on the CoM momentum of these two atoms. As a result, the effective two-atom interaction is CoM-momentum dependent, while the one-atom free Hamiltonian is still the simple kinetic energy ${\bf p}^2/(2m)$.