Ultracold Nonreactive Molecules in an Optical Lattice: Connecting Chemistry to Many-Body Physics

Andris Doçaj, Michael L. Wall, Rick Mukherjee, and Kaden R. A. Hazzard
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 135301 – Published 30 March 2016
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Abstract

We derive effective lattice models for ultracold bosonic or fermionic nonreactive molecules (NRMs) in an optical lattice, analogous to the Hubbard model that describes ultracold atoms in a lattice. In stark contrast to the Hubbard model, which is commonly assumed to accurately describe NRMs, we find that the single on-site interaction parameter U is replaced by a multichannel interaction, whose properties we elucidate. Because this arises from complex short-range collisional physics, it requires no dipolar interactions and thus occurs even in the absence of an electric field or for homonuclear molecules. We find a crossover between coherent few-channel models and fully incoherent single-channel models as the lattice depth is increased. We show that the effective model parameters can be determined in lattice modulation experiments, which, consequently, measure molecular collision dynamics with a vastly sharper energy resolution than experiments in a free-space ultracold gas.

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  • Received 22 December 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.135301

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied PhysicsAtomic, Molecular & Optical

Authors & Affiliations

Andris Doçaj1,2, Michael L. Wall3, Rick Mukherjee1,2, and Kaden R. A. Hazzard1,2,*

  • 1Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 2Rice Center for Quantum Materials, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
  • 3JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA

  • *kaden.hazzard@gmail.com

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Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 13 — 1 April 2016

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