Quantum Optics Laboratory

Abstract: Simplicity – 3-body bound states can be universal. Even though the interactions among atoms in a 3-body system are complicated, at low enough temperatures thephysicsinthesystem is typically dominated by 2-body interactions. When the 2-body interactions are resonantly enhanced, an elegant result emerges. The 3-body system can become universal, yielding the complicated details of the interactions irrelevant. In my talk, I will report our observation of multiple universal 3-body bound states, from whichweconfirmsthediscrete scale invariance predicted by Vitaly Efimov in 1970.

Complexity – 3-body collisions can involve molecules. The extra degrees of freedom in a molecule can provide substantial complications in understanding the dynamics and the energetics of the collisions. In the final part of my talk, I will present our progress on building a hybrid machine that can be used to study the inelastic collisions of neutral atoms and atomic ions; in particular, the collisionsinvolvemolecularion creation. I will also give an overview of the exciting physics and chemistry that we are planning to investigate in the near future.