Quantum mechanics

Ground state

Pure mathematics

Materials science

Field (mathematics)

Atomic physics

Range (aeronautics)

Electric field

Molecule

Physics

Dipole

Mathematics

Composite material

Diatomic molecule

Physical review. A/Physical review, A

Recent experiments on ultracold nonreactive dipolar molecules have observed high two-body losses, even though these molecules can undergo neither inelastic, nor reactive (as they are in their absolute ground state), nor light-assisted collisions (if they are measured in the dark). In the presence of an electric field these losses seem to be near universal (the probability of loss at short range is near unity) while in the absence of it the losses seem nonuniversal. To explain these observations we propose a simple model based on the mixing effect of an electric field on the states of the two diatomic molecules at long range and on the density of states of the tetramer complex formed at short range, believed to be responsible for the losses. We apply our model to collisions of ground-state molecules of endothermic systems, of current experimental interest.

Electric field dependence of complex-dominated ultracold molecular collisions