Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 1801.07978

Atom-molecule collisions, spin relaxation, and sympathetic cooling in an ultracold spin-polarized Rb($^2\mathrm{S}$)-SrF$(^2Σ^+)$ mixture

Masato Morita·Maciej B. Kosicki·Piotr S. Żuchowski·Timur V. Tscherbul
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We explore the suitability of ultracold collisions between spin-polarized SrF($^2Σ^+$) molecules and Rb($^2$S) atoms as elementary steps for the sympathetic cooling of SrF($^2Σ^+$) molecules in a magnetic trap. To this end, we carry out quantum mechanical scattering calculations on ultracold Rb+SrF collisions in a magnetic field based on an accurate potential energy surface for the triplet electronic state of Rb-SrF developed ab initio using a spin-restricted coupler cluster method with single, double and noniterative triple excitations [RCCSD(T)]. The Rb-SrF interaction has a global minimum with a well depth of 3444 cm$^{-1}$ in a bent geometry and a shallow local minimum in the linear geometry. Despite such a strong and anisotropic interaction, we find that converged close-coupling scattering calculations on Rb+SrF collisions in a magnetic field are still possible using rotational basis sets including up to 125 closed rotational channels in the total angular momentum representation. Our calculations show that electronic spin relaxation in fully spin-polarized Rb-SrF collisions occurs much more slowly than elastic scattering over a wide range of magnetic fields (1-1000 G) and collision energies ($10^{-5}-10^{-3}$ K) suggesting good prospects of sympathetic cooling of laser-cooled SrF($^2Σ^+$) molecules with spin-polarized Rb($^2$S) atoms in a magnetic trap. We show that incoming $p$-wave scattering plays a significant role in ultracold collisions due to the large reduced mass of the Rb-SrF collision pair. The calculated magnetic field dependence of the inelastic cross sections at 1.4 $μ$K displays a rich resonance structure including a low-field $p$-wave resonance, which suggests that external magnetic fields can be used to enhance the efficiency of sympathetic cooling in heavy atom-molecule mixtures.

Explore related subjects

physics.atom-phphysics.chem-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Masato Morita, Maciej B. Kosicki, Piotr S. Żuchowski, Timur V. Tscherbul. 2018-01-24. Atom-molecule collisions, spin relaxation, and sympathetic cooling in an ultracold spin-polarized Rb($^2\mathrm{S}$)-SrF$(^2Σ^+)$ mixture. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.98.042702

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Effective Conservation and Bistability of Atomic Alignment under Strong Spin~Exchange

We present a phenomenological model of anomalous alignment signals in dense cesium vapor under linearly polarized pumping and fast spin exchange near zero magnetic field. Despite the absence of a conservation law for rank-2 angular momentum, our recent experiments reveal anisotropic narrow resonances, hysteresis, and bistability. We attribute these effects to a stretched state forming a collective mode in which orientation and alignment are bidirectionally coupled. This mode acts as a reservoir, preserving the essential properties of alignment despite rapid spin exchange.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2026

$LS/LSJ$ Hybrid Coupling Framework for Auger Angular Distributions of Experimentally Unresolved Multiplets with Isolated Fine-Structure

We present a hybrid $LS/LSJ$ coupling framework for treating state multiplets in the regime $ΔE_\text{int}\sim\hbar/τ_\text{int} \ggΔE_\text{FS}\ggΓ$, where $τ_\text{int}$ is the collision interaction time, $ΔE_\text{FS}$ the fine-structure splitting, and $Γ$ the natural width. In this regime, the collision interaction is fast compared with fine-structure evolution, whereas the individual $J$ levels are well isolated on the scale of their natural widths. The produced multiplet's alignment is therefore described in $LS$ coupling and then projected onto the individual fine-structure $J$ levels before their subsequent decay, described by $LSJ$ coupling. Applied to the multi-open-shell $1s2s2p\,^4\!P_J$ manifold, which closely satisfies these conditions, the hybrid treatment reveals strong suppression and inversion of the Auger angular-distribution anisotropy relative to the traditional pure-$LS$ treatment. It substantially improves agreement with absolute experimental data while using the same $LS$ production cross sections. This hybrid $LS/LSJ$ framework thus provides the appropriate treatment of state multiplets with isolated fine-structure levels, as it retains the $J$-dependent decay dynamics missing from the traditional pure-$LS$ treatment.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2026

Optical Ion Clock with Engineered Immunity to Motion-Induced Frequency Shifts

Spectroscopic frequency shifts due to residual motion of the probed atoms significantly contribute to the uncertainty budgets of state-of-the-art optical ion clocks. For clock transitions with second-order Doppler and quadratic Stark shifts of opposite signs, it is possible to configure electrodynamic ion confinement such that these two shift effects become anticorrelated causing zero net shift. Here, we introduce a spectroscopic interrogation protocol which leads, for systems with unknown and varying motional energy gain rates, to first-order auto-suppression of corresponding frequency shifts without requiring the opposite-sign configuration. We experimentally demonstrate the proposed method on a new ytterbium ion optical clock probing the 467 nm electric octupole (E3) transition, where the combined fractional uncertainty contribution from motion-induced frequency shifts is reduced from $1.3\times10^{-18}$ to $0.3\times10^{-18}$. An interleaved optical frequency ratio measurement against ytterbium's electric quadrupole transition (E2) at 435 nm delivers an E3/E2 frequency ratio of $0.932 \,829 \,404 \,530 \,965 \, 340 (39)$. Combined with previously published ratio data this leads to a limit for a potential fractional temporal variation of the fine-structure constant of $2.4 (2.7) \times 10^{-19}/$yr, in agreement with existing bounds.

physics.atom-ph↗