Physics Colloquium, 13 February 2001

Trilobite-like Long-Range Rydberg Molecules in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

Chris H. Greene

Department of Physics and JILA
University of Colorado

Ultracold atoms at typical condensate temperatures and densities have recently been predicted to be ideally suited to the creation of ultra-long-range molecules, formed from one ground state atom and one highly excited atom.[1] The Born-Oppenheimer potential curves are highly oscillatory, with a peculiar appearance that resembles the atomic radial wavefunctions. In fact, two qualitatively different classes of molecular states can be formed. One class involves a low angular momentum Rydberg state and is nonpolar, while the other class involves high angular momentum and can form a permanent dipole moment in the kilodebye range. My colloquium will discuss the physical origin of these unusual molecular states, focussing on the latter class whose electronic density resembles a trilobite. An interpretation of their unusual properties will be developed using quantal, classical, and semiclassical perspectives.

[1] C. H. Greene, A. S. Dickinson, and H. R. Sadeghpour, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 2458 (2000).
This work was supported by NSF.

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3.30 p.m., Smith Laboratory, Room 1005

Refreshments served in Smith 1094 at 3:00 p.m.