Modification of scattering lengths via magnetic dipole-dipole interactions

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel method to tune atomic s-wave scattering lengths using magnetic dipole-dipole interactions, enabling control over atomic collisions through virtual Zeeman transitions.

Contribution

It presents a new mechanism for adjusting scattering lengths by exploiting isotropic effects of magnetic dipole-dipole interactions, supported by numerical analysis.

Findings

Scattering length can be modified up to 15% in chromium-50

Virtual Zeeman transitions induce an effective isotropic potential

New tuning mechanism differs from standard magnetic interaction effects

Abstract

We propose a new mechanism for tuning an atomic s-wave scattering length. The effect is caused by virtual transitions between different Zeeman sublevels via magnetic dipole-dipole interactions. These transitions give rise to an effective potential, which, in contrast to standard magnetic interactions, has an isotropic component and thus affects s-wave collisions. Our numerical analysis shows that for chromium-50 the scattering length can be modified up to 15 %.