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Low-energy universality and scaling of van der Waals forces

Low-energy universality and scaling of van der Waals forces At long distances, interactions between neutral ground-state atoms can be described by the van der Waals potential. In the ultracold regime, atom-atom scattering is dominated by s -waves phase shifts given by an effective range expansion in terms of the scattering length α 0 and the effective range r 0 . We show that while the scattering length cannot be predicted for these potentials, the effective range is given by the universal low-energy theorem r 0 = A + B / α 0 + C / α 0 2 , where A , B , and C depend on the dispersion coefficients C n and the reduced diatom mass. We confront this formula to about 100 determinations of r 0 and α 0 and show why the result is dominated by the leading dispersion coefficient C 6 . Universality and scaling extend much beyond naive dimensional analysis estimates. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Physical Review A American Physical Society (APS)

Low-energy universality and scaling of van der Waals forces

Physical Review A , Volume 81 (4) – Apr 1, 2010
4 pages

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References (38)

Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 The American Physical Society
ISSN
1094-1622
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.81.044701
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

At long distances, interactions between neutral ground-state atoms can be described by the van der Waals potential. In the ultracold regime, atom-atom scattering is dominated by s -waves phase shifts given by an effective range expansion in terms of the scattering length α 0 and the effective range r 0 . We show that while the scattering length cannot be predicted for these potentials, the effective range is given by the universal low-energy theorem r 0 = A + B / α 0 + C / α 0 2 , where A , B , and C depend on the dispersion coefficients C n and the reduced diatom mass. We confront this formula to about 100 determinations of r 0 and α 0 and show why the result is dominated by the leading dispersion coefficient C 6 . Universality and scaling extend much beyond naive dimensional analysis estimates.

Journal

Physical Review AAmerican Physical Society (APS)

Published: Apr 1, 2010

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