Mass-imbalanced three-body systems in two dimensions

• Published in: Journal of physics. B, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2013-03, Vol.46 (5), p.55301-1-10
• Main Authors: Bellotti, F F, Frederico, T, Yamashita, M T, Fedorov, D V, Jensen, A S, Zinner, N T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adiabatic flow; Approximation; Atomic and molecular collision processes and interactions; Atomic and molecular physics; Bose-Fermi mixtures; Exact sciences and technology; Interatomic and intermolecular potentials and forces, potential energy surfaces for collisions; Interatomic potentials and forces; Mass ratios; Mathematical analysis; Physics; Schroedinger equation; Strength; three-body systems; Two dimensional; two-dimensional physics
• ISSN: 0953-4075; 1361-6455
• DOI: 10.1088/0953-4075/46/5/055301

We consider three-body systems in two dimensions with zero-range interactions for general masses and interaction strengths. The momentum-space Schrödinger equation is solved numerically and in the Born-Oppenheimer (BO) approximation. The BO expression is derived using separable potentials and yields a concise adiabatic potential between the two heavy particles. The BO potential is Coulomb-like and exponentially decreasing at small and large distances, respectively. While we find similar qualitative features to previous studies, we find important quantitative differences. Our results demonstrate that mass-imbalanced systems that are accessible in the field of ultracold atomic gases can have a rich three-body bound state spectrum in two-dimensional geometries. Small light-heavy mass ratios increase the number of bound states. For 87Rb-87Rb-6Li and 133Cs-133Cs-6Li we find respectively three and four bound states.