Ultracold atomic collisions in tight harmonic traps: Quantum-defect model and application to metastable helium atoms

We analyze a system of two colliding ultracold atoms under strong harmonic confinement from the viewpoint of quantum defect theory and formulate a generalized self-consistent method for determining the allowed energies. We also present two highly efficient computational methods for determining the b...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2004-09, Vol.70 (3), Article 032713
Main Authors: Peach, Gillian, Whittingham, Ian B., Beams, Timothy J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATOM-ATOM COLLISIONS
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOUND STATE
CONFINEMENT
COORDINATES
COULOMB FIELD
DEFECTS
EIGENFUNCTIONS
EIGENVALUES
HARMONIC OSCILLATORS
HELIUM
KINETIC ENERGY
METASTABLE STATES
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
POTENTIALS
RADIATION PRESSURE
SCHROEDINGER EQUATION
SPIN
TRAPPING
TRAPS
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Summary:We analyze a system of two colliding ultracold atoms under strong harmonic confinement from the viewpoint of quantum defect theory and formulate a generalized self-consistent method for determining the allowed energies. We also present two highly efficient computational methods for determining the bound state energies and eigenfunctions of such systems. The perturbed harmonic oscillator problem is characterized by a long asymptotic region beyond the effective range of the interatomic potential. The first method, which is based on quantum defect theory and is an adaptation of a technique developed by one of the authors (G.P.) for highly excited states in a modified Coulomb potential, is very efficient for integrating through this outer region. The second method is a direct numerical solution of the radial Schroedinger equation using a discrete variable representation of the kinetic energy operator and a scaled radial coordinate grid. The methods are applied to the case of trapped spin-polarized metastable helium atoms. The calculated eigenvalues agree very closely for the two methods, and with the eigenvalues computed using the generalized self-consistent method.
ISSN:1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.70.032713