Resonant Dimer Relaxation in Cold Atoms with a Large Scattering Length

TL;DR

This paper investigates resonant atom-dimer relaxation in cold atoms with large scattering lengths, providing calculations that help determine Efimov physics parameters through temperature-dependent measurements.

Contribution

It offers the first detailed calculation of atom-dimer relaxation rates as a function of temperature in the context of Efimov physics, aiding experimental parameter determination.

Findings

Resonant peaks in atom-dimer relaxation rates are predicted for large positive scattering lengths.

Temperature dependence of relaxation rates can be used to extract Efimov parameters.

The study connects relaxation phenomena with universal Efimov physics in cold atom systems.

Abstract

Efimov physics refers to universal phenomena associated with a discrete scaling symmetry in the 3-body problem with a large scattering length. The first experimental evidence for Efimov physics was the recent observation of a resonant peak in the 3-body recombination rate for 133Cs atoms with large negative scattering length. There can also be resonant peaks in the atom-dimer relaxation rate for large positive scattering length. We calculate the atom-dimer relaxation rate as a function of temperature and show how measurements of the relaxation rate can be used to determine accurately the parameters that govern Efimov physics.