30 research outputs found
Application of B-splines to determining eigen-spectrum of Feshbach molecules
The B-spline basis set method is applied to determining the rovibrational
eigen-spectrum of diatomic molecules. A particular attention is paid to a
challenging numerical task of an accurate and efficient description of the
vibrational levels near the dissociation limit (halo-state and Feshbach
molecules). Advantages of using B-splines are highlighted by comparing the
performance of the method with that of the commonly-used discrete variable
representation (DVR) approach. Several model cases, including the Morse
potential and realistic potentials with 1/R^3 and 1/R^6 long-range dependence
of the internuclear separation are studied. We find that the B-spline method is
superior to the DVR approach and it is robust enough to properly describe the
Feshbach molecules. The developed numerical method is applied to studying the
universal relation of the energy of the last bound state to the scattering
length. We numerically illustrate the validity of the quantum-defect-theoretic
formulation of such a relation for a 1/R^6 potential.Comment: submitted to can j phys: Walter Johnson symposu
Potential energy and dipole moment surfaces of H3- molecule
A new potential energy surface for the electronic ground state of the
simplest triatomic anion H3- is determined for a large number of geometries.
Its accuracy is improved at short and large distances compared to previous
studies. The permanent dipole moment surface of the state is also computed for
the first time. Nine vibrational levels of H3- and fourteen levels of D3- are
obtained, bound by at most ~70 cm^{-1} and ~ 126 cm^{-1} respectively. These
results should guide the spectroscopic search of the H3- ion in cold gases
(below 100K) of molecular hydrogen in the presence of H3- ions
Uncertainty Estimates for Theoretical Atomic and Molecular Data
Sources of uncertainty are reviewed for calculated atomic and molecular data
that are important for plasma modeling: atomic and molecular structure and
cross sections for electron-atom, electron-molecule, and heavy particle
collisions. We concentrate on model uncertainties due to approximations to the
fundamental many-body quantum mechanical equations and we aim to provide
guidelines to estimate uncertainties as a routine part of computations of data
for structure and scattering.Comment: 65 pages, 18 Figures, 3 Tables. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. Final
accepted versio
Enhancement of the formation of ultracold Rb molecules due to resonant coupling
We have studied the effect of resonant electronic state coupling on the
formation of ultracold ground-state Rb. Ultracold Rb molecules
are formed by photoassociation (PA) to a coupled pair of states,
and , in the region below the
limit. Subsequent radiative decay produces high vibrational levels of the
ground state, . The population distribution of these state
vibrational levels is monitored by resonance-enhanced two-photon ionization
through the state. We find that the populations of vibrational
levels =112116 are far larger than can be accounted for by the
Franck-Condon factors for transitions with
the state treated as a single channel. Further, the
ground-state molecule population exhibits oscillatory behavior as the PA laser
is tuned through a succession of state vibrational levels. Both of
these effects are explained by a new calculation of transition amplitudes that
includes the resonant character of the spin-orbit coupling of the two
states. The resulting enhancement of more deeply bound ground-state molecule
formation will be useful for future experiments on ultracold molecules.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures; corrected author lis
Field-linked States of Ultracold Polar Molecules
We explore the character of a novel set of ``field-linked'' states that were
predicted in [A. V. Avdeenkov and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 043006
(2003)]. These states exist at ultralow temperatures in the presence of an
electrostatic field, and their properties are strongly dependent on the field's
strength. We clarify the nature of these quasi-bound states by constructing
their wave functions and determining their approximate quantum numbers. As the
properties of field-linked states are strongly defined by anisotropic dipolar
and Stark interactions, we construct adiabatic surfaces as functions of both
the intermolecular distance and the angle that the intermolecular axis makes
with the electric field. Within an adiabatic approximation we solve the 2-D
Schrodinger equation to find bound states, whose energies correlate well with
resonance features found in fully-converged multichannel scattering
calculations
Formation of ultracold RbCs molecules by photoassociation
The formation of ultracold metastable RbCs molecules is observed in a double
species magneto-optical trap through photoassociation below the
^85Rb(5S_1/2)+^133Cs(6P_3/2) dissociation limit followed by spontaneous
emission. The molecules are detected by resonance enhanced two-photon
ionization. Using accurate quantum chemistry calculations of the potential
energy curves and transition dipole moment, we interpret the observed
photoassociation process as occurring at short internuclear distance, in
contrast with most previous cold atom photoassociation studies. The vibrational
levels excited by photoassociation belong to the 5th 0^+ or the 4th 0^-
electronic states correlated to the Rb(5P_1/2,3/2)+Cs(6S_1/2) dissociation
limit. The computed vibrational distribution of the produced molecules shows
that they are stabilized in deeply bound vibrational states of the lowest
triplet state. We also predict that a noticeable fraction of molecules is
produced in the lowest level of the electronic ground state
Correlation diagrams in collisions of three identical particles
We discuss collision of three identical particles and derive scattering
selection rules from initial to final states of the particles. We use either
laboratory-frame, hyperspherical, or Jacobian coordinates depending on which
one is best suited to describe three different configurations of the particles:
(1) three free particles, (2) a quasi-bound trimer, or (3) a dimer and a free
particle. We summarize quantum numbers conserved during the collision as well
as quantum numbers that are appropriate for a given configuration but may
change during the scattering process. The total symmetry of the system depends
on these quantum numbers. Based on the selection rules, we construct
correlation diagrams between different configurations before and after a
collision. In particular, we describe a possible recombination of the system
into one free particle and a dimer, which can be used, for example, to identify
possible decay products of quasi-stationary three-body statesComment: 14 pages,4 figure
Formation of ultracold dipolar molecules in the lowest vibrational levels by photoassociation
We recently reported the formation of ultracold LiCs molecules in the
rovibrational ground state X1Sigma+,v''=0,J''=0 [J. Deiglmayr et al., PRL 101,
133004 (2008)]. Here we discuss details of the experimental setup and present a
thorough analysis of the photoassociation step including the photoassociation
line shape. We predict the distribution of produced ground state molecules
using accurate potential nergy curves combined with an ab-initio dipole
transition moment and compare this prediction with experimental ionization
spectra. Additionally we improve the value of the dissociation energy for the
X1Sigma+ state by high resolution spectroscopy of the vibrational ground state.Comment: Submitted to Faraday Discussions 142: Cold and Ultracold Molecules 18
pages, 8 figure
Optimal trapping wavelengths of Cs molecules in an optical lattice
The present paper aims at finding optimal parameters for trapping of Cs
molecules in optical lattices, with the perspective of creating a quantum
degenerate gas of ground-state molecules. We have calculated dynamic
polarizabilities of Cs molecules subject to an oscillating electric field,
using accurate potential curves and electronic transition dipole moments. We
show that for some particular wavelengths of the optical lattice, called "magic
wavelengths", the polarizability of the ground-state molecules is equal to the
one of a Feshbach molecule. As the creation of the sample of ground-state
molecules relies on an adiabatic population transfer from weakly-bound
molecules created on a Feshbach resonance, such a coincidence ensures that both
the initial and final states are favorably trapped by the lattice light,
allowing optimized transfer in agreement with the experimental observation