Efimov energy level rebounding off the atom-dimer continuum

Abstract

The Efimov effect, with its ladder of weakly bound three-atomic molecules, poses intriguing questions in the theoretically controversial and experimentally demanding regime of merging of the first excited Efimov energy level with the atom-dimer continuum. Using an original experimental technique, where a coherent superposition state of diatomic and triatomic molecules is utilized, we investigate this regime and reveal a striking behavior: Instead of merging with the atom-dimer continuum the trimer energy level rebounds from it and becomes a deeper bound state again. In addition, instead of a tangential approach between the two levels we observe a rather narrow resonance, providing a new challenge and guide for few-body theories to incorporate realistic interatomic potentials.

12 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Observation of an Efimov-like resonance in ultracold atom-dimer scattering
• Radio Frequency Association of Efimov Trimers
• Microscopic Origin and Universality Classes of the Efimov Three-Body Parameter
• Universal van der Waals Physics for Three Ultracold Atoms
• Direct Measurements of Collisional Dynamics in Cold Atom Triads
• Anomalous Commutator Algebra for Conformal Quantum Mechanics
• Resonant atom-dimer collisions in cesium: Testing universality at positive scattering lengths
• A coherent superposition of Feshbach dimers and Efimov trimers