Ultracold three-body collisions near overlapping Feshbach resonances

We present a comprehensive collection of ultracold three-body collisions properties near overlapping Feshbach resonances. Our results incorporate variations of all scattering lengths and demonstrate novel collisional behavior, such as atom-molecule interference effects. Taking advantage of the unique ways in which these collisions reflect Efimov physics, new pathways to control atomic and molecular losses open up. Further, we show that overlapping resonances can greatly improve the chances of observing multiple Efimov features in an ultracold quantum gas for nearly any system.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl

Energy spectra of small bosonic clusters having a large two-body scattering length

In this work we investigate small clusters of bosons using the hyperspherical harmonic basis. We consider systems with $A=2,3,4,5,6$ particles interacting through a soft inter-particle potential. In order to make contact with a real system, we use an attractive gaussian potential that reproduces the values of the dimer binding energy and the atom-atom scattering length obtained with one of the most widely used $^4$He-$^4$He interactions, the LM2M2 potential. The intensity of the potential is varied in order to explore the clusters' spectra in different regions with large positive and large negative values of the two-body scattering length. In addition, we include a repulsive three-body force to reproduce the trimer binding energy. With this model, consisting in the sum of a two- and three-body potential, we have calculated the spectrum of the four, five and six particle systems. In all the region explored, we have found that these systems present two bound states, one deep and one shallow close to the $A-1$ threshold. Some universal relations between the energy levels are extracted; in particular, we have estimated the universal ratios between thresholds of the three-, four-, and five-particle continuum using the two-body gaussia

The Efimov effect for three interacting bosonic dipoles

Three oriented bosonic dipoles are treated using the hyperspherical adiabatic representation, providing numerical evidence that the Efimov effect persists near a two-dipole resonance and in a system where angular momentum is not conserved. Our results further show that the Efimov features in scattering observables become universal, with a known three-body parameter, i.e. the resonance energies depend only on the two-body physics, which also has implications for the universal spectrum of the four-dipole problem. Moreover, the Efimov states should be long-lived, which is favorable for their creation and manipulation in ultracold dipolar gases. Finally, deeply-bound two-dipole states are shown to be relatively stable against collisions with a third dipole, owing to the emergence of a repulsive interaction originating in the angular momentum nonconservation for this system.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl

Mass Dependence of Ultracold Three-Body Collision Rates

We show that many aspects of ultracold three-body collisions can be controlled by choosing the mass ratio between the collision partners. In the ultracold regime, the scattering length dependence of the three-body rates can be substantially modified from the equal mass results. We demonstrate that the only non-trivial mass dependence is due solely to Efimov physics. We have determined the mass dependence of the three-body collision rates for all heteronuclear systems relevant for two-component atomic gases with resonant s-wave interspecies interactions, which includes only three-body systems with two identical bosons or two identical fermions

Origin of the Three-body Parameter Universality in Efimov Physics

In recent years extensive theoretical and experimental studies of universal few-body physics have led to advances in our understanding of universal Efimov physics [1]. The Efimov effect, once considered a mysterious and esoteric effect, is today a reality that many experiments in ultracold quantum gases have successfully observed and continued to explore [2-14]. Whereas theory was the driving force behind our understanding of Efimov physics for decades, recent experiments have contributed an unexpected discovery. Specifically, measurements have found that the so-called three-body parameter determining several properties of the system is universal, even though fundamental assumptions in the theory of the Efimov effect suggest that it should be a variable property that depends on the precise details of the short-range two- and three-body interactions. The present Letter resolves this apparent contradiction by elucidating unanticipated implications of the two-body interactions. Our study shows that the three-body parameter universality emerges because a universal effective barrier in the three-body potentials prevents the three particles from simultaneously getting close to each other. Our results also show limitations on this universality, as it is more likely to occur for neutral atoms and less likely to extend to light nuclei.Comment: 11 pages; 9 figures. Includes Supplementary Materia

Ultracold atom-molecule collisions with fermionic atoms

Elastic and inelastic properties of weakly bound s- and p-wave molecules of fermionic atoms that collide with a third atom are investigated. Analysis of calculated collisional properties of s-wave dimers of fermions in different spin states permit us to compare and highlight the physical mechanisms that determine the stability of s-wave and p-wave molecules. In contrast to s-wave molecules, the collisional properties of p-wave molecules are found to be largely insensitive to variations of the p-wave scattering length and that these collisions will usually result in short molecular lifetimes. We also discuss the importance of this result for both theories and experiments involving degenerate Fermi gases.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Quasirelativistic quasilocal finite wave-function collapse model

A Markovian wave function collapse model is presented where the collapse-inducing operator, constructed from quantum fields, is a manifestly covariant generalization of the mass density operator utilized in the nonrelativistic Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) wave function collapse model. However, the model is not Lorentz invariant because two such operators do not commute at spacelike separation, i.e., the time-ordering operation in one Lorentz frame, the "preferred" frame, is not the time-ordering operation in another frame. However, the characteristic spacelike distance over which the commutator decays is the particle's Compton wavelength so, since the commutator rapidly gets quite small, the model is "almost" relativistic. This "QRCSL" model is completely finite: unlike previous, relativistic, models, it has no (infinite) energy production from the vacuum state. QRCSL calculations are given of the collapse rate for a single free particle in a superposition of spatially separated packets, and of the energy production rate for any number of free particles: these reduce to the CSL rates if the particle's Compton wavelength is small compared to the model's distance parameter. One motivation for QRCSL is the realization that previous relativistic models entail excitation of nuclear states which exceeds that of experiment, whereas QRCSL does not: an example is given involving quadrupole excitation of the $^{74}$Ge nucleus.Comment: 10 pages, to be published in Phys. Rev.

Limits on Universality in Ultracold Three-Boson Recombination

The recombination rate for three identical bosons has been calculated to test the limits of its universal behavior. It has been obtained for several different collision energies and scattering lengths (a) up to 10^5 a.u., giving rates that vary over 15 orders of magnitude. We find that universal behavior is limited to the threshold region characterized by E lesssim hbar^2/(2mu_{12}a^2), where E is the total energy and mu_{12} is the two-body reduced mass. The analytically predicted infinite series of resonance peaks and interference minima is truncated to no more than three of each for typical experimental parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Few-body physics in effective field theory

Effective Field Theory (EFT) provides a powerful framework that exploits a separation of scales in physical systems to perform systematically improvable, model-independent calculations. Particularly interesting are few-body systems with short-range interactions and large two-body scattering length. Such systems display remarkable universal features. In systems with more than two particles, a three-body force with limit cycle behavior is required for consistent renormalization already at leading order. We will review this EFT and some of its applications in the physics of cold atoms and nuclear physics. In particular, we will discuss the possibility of an infrared limit cycle in QCD. Recent extensions of the EFT approach to the four-body system and N-boson droplets in two spatial dimensions will also be addressed.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Proceedings of the INT Workshop on "Nuclear Forces and the Quantum Many-Body Problem", Oct. 200