Confinement effects on the stimulated dissociation of molecular BECs

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the size and shape of a trap influence the stimulated dissociation of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates, revealing a stabilization effect when the trap is smaller than a critical length, with implications for controlling superchemistry reactions.

Contribution

It introduces the concept that trap size and shape critically affect stimulated dissociation in molecular BECs, highlighting a new collective feature of superchemistry.

Findings

Smaller traps stabilize molecular BECs against dissociation.

Critical atom-molecule coupling depends on condensate shape.

Dissociation can be triggered by changing trap or coupling parameters.

Abstract

We show that a molecular BEC in a trap is stabilized against stimulated dissociation if the trap size is smaller than the resonance healing length $(\hbar^2/2mg\sqrt{n})^{1/2}$. The condensate shape determines the critical atom-molecule coupling frequency. We discuss an experiment for triggering dissociation by a sudden change of coupling or trap parameters. This effect demonstrates one of the unique collective features of 'superchemistry' in that the yield of a chemical reaction depends critically on the size and shape of the reaction vessel.