Hannover 2016 – scientific programme

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 31: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC I (with A)

Q 31.4: Talk

Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 11:45–12:00, f107

Observation of mixing between singlet and triplet scattering channels in Rb₂ Rydberg molecules — •Karl Magnus Westphal, Fabian Böttcher, Anita Gaj, Michael Schlagmüller, Kathrin Sophie Kleinbach, Robert Löw, Tara Cubel Liebisch, Tilman Pfau, and Sebastian Hofferberth — 5. Physikalisches Institut and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

We present high-resolution spectroscopy of Rb₂ ultralong-range Rydberg molecules bound by mixed singlet-triplet electron-neutral atom scattering [1]. The mixing of the scattering channels is a consequence of the hyperfine interaction in the ground-state atom, as predicted recently by Anderson et al. [2]. Using our experimental data we determine the effective zero-energy singlet s-wave scattering length. Furthermore, we calculate molecular potentials using a full diagonalization approach including the p-wave contribution and all orders in the relative momentum k, and compare the obtained molecular binding energies to the experimental data. We show that an applied external magnetic field changes the contributions of the singlet and the triplet scattering and therefore the binding energies of the observed molecules. Ultimately, we extract the molecular magnetic moments, which differ from the magnetic moments of the asymptotic atomic states.

1. F. Böttcher et al., arXiv:1510.01097, (2015)
2. D. A. Anderson et al., Phys. Rev. A 90, 062518 (2014)