Enhanced Dimer Relaxation in an Atomic/Molecular BEC

Abstract

We derive a universal formula for the rate constant βfor relaxation of a shallow dimer into deeply-bound diatomic molecules in the case of atoms with a large scattering length a. We show that βis determined by a and by two 3-body parameters that also determine the binding energies and widths of Efimov states. The rate constant βscales like \hbar a/m near the resonance, but the coefficient is a periodic function of ln(a) that may have resonant enhancement at values of a that differ by multiples of 22.7.

5 pages, revtex4, 2 PS figures, title changed, final version