Long-range interactions between ultracold atoms and molecules including atomic spin-orbit

Abstract

We investigate theoretically the long-range electrostatic interactions between a ground-state homonuclear alkali-metal dimer and an excited alkali-metal atom taking into account its fine-structure. The interaction involves the combination of first-order quadrupole-quadrupole and second-order dipole-dipole effects. Depending on the considered species, the atomic spin-orbit may be comparable to the atom-molecule electrostatic energy and to the dimer rotational structure. Here we extend our general description in the framework of the second-order degenerate perturbation theory [M. Lepers and O. Dulieu, Eur. Phys. J. D, 2011] to various regimes induced by the magnitude of the atomic spin-orbit. A complex dynamics of the atom-molecule may take place at large distances, which may have consequences for the search for an universal model of ultracold inelastic collisions as proposed for instance in [Z. Idziaszek and P. S. Julienne, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{104}, 113202 (2010)].

Submitted to Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., special issue on cold molecules

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• $C_6$ coefficients for interacting Rydberg atoms and alkali-metal dimers
• Long-range additive and nonadditive potentials in a hybrid system: Ground state atom, excited state atom, and ion
• Cesium atoms in cryogenic argon matrix
• Van der Waals coefficients for interactions of dysprosium and erbium atoms with alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal atoms