Tuning ultracold chemical reactions via Rydberg-dressed interactions
We show that ultracold chemical reactions with an activation barrier can be tuned using Rydberg-dressed interactions. Scattering in the ultracold regime is sensitive to long-range interactions, especially when weakly bound (or quasibound) states exist near the collision threshold. We investigate how...
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| Published in | Physical review letters Vol. 113; no. 2; p. 025302 |
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| Main Authors | , , , |
| Format | Journal Article |
| Language | English |
| Published |
United States
11.07.2014
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| Online Access | Get more information |
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| Summary: | We show that ultracold chemical reactions with an activation barrier can be tuned using Rydberg-dressed interactions. Scattering in the ultracold regime is sensitive to long-range interactions, especially when weakly bound (or quasibound) states exist near the collision threshold. We investigate how, by Rydberg dressing a reactant, one enhances its polarizability and modifies the long-range van der Waals collision complex, which can alter chemical reaction rates by shifting the position of near-threshold bound states. We carry out a full quantum mechanical scattering calculation for the benchmark system H(2)+D, and show that resonances can be moved substantially and that rate coefficients at cold and ultracold temperatures can be increased by several orders of magnitude. |
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| ISSN: | 1079-7114 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/PhysRevLett.113.025302 |