Cold chemistry in high density atom-ion environments

ORAL

Abstract

A single laser cooled $^{138}$Ba$^+$ is brought in contact with a high density atomic cloud of ultracold $^{87}$Rb atoms, as a result, different chemical reactions leads to the formation of atomic an molecular products that are detected. We show by first principles, as well as it is confirmed in the experiment, that three-body recombination is the main physical process behind the cold chemical reactions in high density atom-ion environments. In particular, it is found that the observed final products are a consequence of the three-body process followed by subsequent chemical processes, which are also studied. This work elucidates the role of the density in the chemical reactivity in ion-neutral systems.

*This work was supported in part by the Department of Energy, Office of Science

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Authors

  • Jesus Perez-Rios

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue Univeristy
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University

  • Artjom Krukow

    • Institut f\"{u}r Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universit\"{a}t Ulm

  • Amir Mohamadi

    • Institut f\"{u}r Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universit\"{a}t Ulm

  • Joschka Wolf

    • Institut f\"{u}r Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universit\"{a}t Ulm

  • Tobias Schenetzer

    • Institut f\"{u}r Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universit\"{a}t Ulm

  • Johannes Hecker Denschlag

    • Institut f\"{u}r Quantenmaterie and Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology IQST, Universit\"{a}t Ulm

  • Chris H. Greene

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue Univeristy