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Rotational predissociation of extremely weakly bound atom-molecule complexes produced by Feshbach resonance association

TitleRotational predissociation of extremely weakly bound atom-molecule complexes produced by Feshbach resonance association
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2011
AuthorsWallis, AOG, Krems, RV
JournalJOURNAL OF CHEMICAL PHYSICS
Volume135
Pagination124313
Date PublishedSEP 28
ISSN0021-9606
Abstract

We study the rotational predissociation of atom-molecule complexes with very small binding energy. Such complexes can be produced by Feshbach resonance association of ultracold molecules with ultracold atoms. Numerical calculations of the predissociation lifetimes based on the computation of the energy dependence of the scattering matrix elements become inaccurate when the binding energy is smaller than the energy width of the predissociating state. We derive expressions that represent accurately the predissociation lifetimes in terms of the real and imaginary parts of the scattering length and effective range for molecules in an excited rotational state. Our results show that the predissociation lifetimes are the longest when the binding energy is positive, i.e., when the predissociating state is just above the excited state threshold. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. {[}doi:10.1063/1.3641643]

DOI10.1063/1.3641643