First-order phase transition in atom-molecule quantum degenerate mixtures with coherent three-body recombination

TL;DR

This paper investigates how coherent three-body recombination alters the phase transition in atom-molecule Bose-Einstein condensates, revealing a first order transition and new quantum phenomena.

Contribution

It demonstrates that coherent three-body recombination induces a first order phase transition, replacing the standard second order transition in atom-molecule condensates.

Findings

First order phase transition replaces second order transition due to cTBR.

Presence of atom-molecule entanglement and bistability.

cTBR enables control over quantum states and reaction dynamics.

Abstract

We map the phase diagram of a two-mode atom-molecule Bose-Einstein condensate with Fano-Feshbach and coherent three-body recombination (cTBR) terms. The standard second order phase transition observed as the molecular energy is tuned through the Feshbach resonance, is replaced by a first order transition when cTBR becomes prominent, due to a double-well structure in the free energy landscape. This transition is associated with atom-molecule entanglement, bistability, and molecular metastability. Our results establish cTBR as a powerful knob for quantum state engineering and control of reaction dynamics in ultracold chemistry.