Non-adiabatic quantum interference and complex formation in ultracold collisions of Rb with KRb
Abstract
computed potential energy surfaces are reported that include the two lowest-lying electronic states, their conical intersection, non-adiabatic couplings and an accurate long-range behavior. A numerically exact time-independent quantum dynamics method in hyperspherical coordinates is used to compute the elastic scattering cross sections, rate coefficients and collision lifetime spectrum. The quantum scattering calculations include all degrees of freedom and treat both electronic states and their non-adiabatic couplings using a two-state diabatic representation. The theoretically computed elastic rate coefficient is in good agreement with the recently reported experimental value. Significant non-adiabatic quantum interference effects are shown to originate from the unique properties of ultracold collisions and the geometric phase associated with the conical intersection. A high-resolution collision energy grid is used to investigate the origin of the experimentally reported long-lived 3-body collision complexes.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Cold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein Condensates
Dust and Plasma Wave Phenomena
Nonlinear Photonic Systems
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics
- Publisher
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 9223–9238
- Publication date
- 1 January 2026
- Language
- EN