Efimov Resonances in Ultracold Quantum Gases

Ultracold atomic gases have developed into prime systems for experimental studies of Efimov three-body physics and related few-body phenomena, which occur in the universal regime of resonant interactions. In the last few years, many important breakthroughs have been achieved, confirming basic predictions of universal few-body theory and deepening our understanding of such systems. We review the basic ideas along with the fast experimental developments of the field, focussing on ultracold cesium gases as a well-investigated model system. Triatomic Efimov resonances, atom-dimer Efimov resonances, and related four-body resonances are discussed as central observables. We also present some new observations of such resonances, supporting and complementing the set of available data.     

Borromean three-body heteroatomic resonances

We present an approach to analyze recent experimental evidences of Efimov resonant states in mixtures of ultracold gases, by considering two-species three-body atomic systems bound in a Borromean configuration, where all the two-body interactions are unbound. For such Borromean three-body systems, it is shown that a continuum three-body s-wave resonance emerges from an Efimov state as a scattering length or a three-body scale is moved. The energy and width of the resonant state are determined from a scaling function with arguments given by dimension-less energy ratios relating the two-body virtual state subsystem energies with the shallowest three-body bound state. The peculiar behavior of such resonances is that their peaks are expected to move to lower values of the scattering length, with increasing width, as one raises the temperature. For Borromean systems, two resonant peaks are expected in ultralow-temperature regimes, which will disappear at higher energies. It is shown how a Borromean-Efimov excited bound state turns out to a resonant state by tuning the virtual two-body subsystem energies or scattering lengths, with all energies written in units of the next deeper shallowest Efimov state energy. The resonance position and width for the decay into the continuum are obtained as universal scaling functions (limit cycle) of the dimensionless ratios of the two and three-body scales, which are calculated numerically within a zero-range renormalized three-body model.     

Efimov effect in nuclear three-body resonance decays

We investigate the effects of the nearly fulfilled Efimov conditions on the properties of three-body resonances. Using the hyper-spheric adiabatic expansion method we compute energy distributions of fragments in a three-body decay of a nuclear resonance. As a realistic example we investigate the 1- state in the halo nucleus 11Li within a three-body model 9Li + n +n model. Characteristic features appear as sharp peaks in the energy distributions. Their origin, as in the Efimov effect, is in the large two-body s-wave scattering lengths between the pairs of fragments.     

Measurements of Tan's contact in an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate

A powerful set of universal relations, centered on a quantity called the contact, connects the strength of short-range two-body correlations to the thermodynamics of a many-body system with zero-range interactions. We report on measurements of the contact, using rf spectroscopy, for an (85)Rb atomic Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). For bosons, the fact that contact spectroscopy can be used to probe the gas on short time scales is useful given the decreasing stability of BECs with increasing interactions. A complication is the added possibility, for bosons, of three-body interactions. In investigating this issue, we have located an Efimov resonance for (85)Rb atoms with loss measurements and thus determined the three-body interaction parameter. In our contact spectroscopy, in a region of observable beyond-mean-field effects, we find no measurable contribution from three-body physics.     

Universal dimer in a collisionally opaque medium: experimental observables and Efimov resonances

A universal dimer is subject to secondary collisions with atoms when formed in a cloud of ultracold atoms via three-body recombination. We show that in a collisionally opaque medium, the value of the scattering length that results in the maximum number of secondary collisions may not correspond to the Efimov resonance at the atom-dimer threshold and thus cannot be automatically associated with it. This result explains a number of controversies in recent experimental results on universal three-body states and supports the emerging evidence for the significant finite range corrections to the first excited Efimov energy level.     

Liberating Efimov Physics from Three Dimensions

When two particles attract via a resonant short-range interaction, three particles always form an infinite tower of bound states characterized by a discrete scaling symmetry. It has been considered that this Efimov effect exists only in three dimensions. Here we review how the Efimov physics can be liberated from three dimensions by considering two-body and three-body interactions in mixed dimensions and four-body interaction in one dimension. In such new systems, intriguing phenomena appear, such as confinement-induced Efimov effect, Bose?CFermi crossover in Efimov spectrum, and formation of interlayer Efimov trimers. Some of them are observable in ultracold atom experiments and we believe that this study significantly broadens our horizons of universal Efimov physics.     

Efimov effect in 2-neutron halo nuclei

This paper presents an overview of our theoretical investigations in search of Efimov states in light 2-neutron halo nuclei. The calculations have been carried out within a three-body formalism, assuming a compact core and two valence neutrons forming the halo. The calculations provide strong evidence for the occurrence of at least two Efimov states in ²⁰C nucleus. These excited states move into the continuum as the two-body (core-neutron) binding energy is increased and show up as asymmetric resonances in the elastic scattering cross-section of the n-¹⁹C system. The Fano mechanism is invoked to explain the asymmetry. The calculations have been extended to ³⁸Mg, ³²Ne and a hypothetical case of a very heavy core (A = 100) with two valence neutrons. In all these cases the Efimov states show up as resonances as the two-body energy is increased. However, in sharp contrast, the Efimov states, for a system of three equal masses, show up as virtual states beyond a certain value of the two-body interaction.     

Efimov states and their Fano resonances in a neutron-rich nucleus

Asymmetric resonances in elastic n+19C scattering are attributed to Efimov states of such neutron-rich nuclei, that is, three-body bound states of the n+n+18C system when none of the pairs is bound or some of them are only weakly bound. By fitting to the general resonance shape described by Fano, we extract the resonance position, width, and the "Fano profile index." While Efimov states have been discussed extensively in many areas of physics, there is only one very recent experimental observation in trimers of cesium atoms. The conjunction that we present of the Efimov and Fano phenomena may lead to experimental realization in nuclei.     

Breakdown of universality for unequal-mass Fermi gases with infinite scattering length

We treat small trapped unequal-mass two-component Fermi gases at unitarity within a nonperturbative microscopic framework and investigate the system properties as functions of the mass ratio κ, and the numbers N1 and N2 of heavy and light fermions. While equal-mass Fermi gases with infinitely large interspecies s-wave scattering length a(s) are universal, we find that unequal-mass Fermi gases are, for sufficiently large κ and in the regime where Efimov physics is absent, not universal. In particular, the (N?,N?) = (2, 1) and (3, 1) systems exhibit three-body and four-body resonances at κ=12.314(2) and 10.4(2), respectively, as well as surprisingly large finite-range effects. These findings have profound implications for ongoing experimental efforts and quantum simulation proposals that utilize unequal-mass atomic Fermi gases.     

On the modification of the Efimov spectrum in a finite cubic box

Three particles with large scattering length display a universal spectrum of three-body bound states called “Efimov trimers”. We calculate the modification of the Efimov trimers of three identical bosons in a finite cubic box and compute the dependence of their energies on the box size using effective field theory. Previous calculations for positive scattering length that were perturbative in the finite-volume energy shift are extended to arbitrarily large shifts and negative scattering lengths. The renormalization of the effective field theory in the finite volume is explicitly verified. We investigate the effects of partial-wave mixing and study the behavior of shallow trimers near the dimer energy. Moreover, we provide numerical evidence for universal scaling of the finite-volume corrections.     

Alternative paths to observing Efimov physics

We present some of our work on the ultracold behavior of three-body collisions and their relation to the recent experiment (Kraemer [1]). In particular, we discuss the role of Efimov physics in this experiment and other ultracold three-body collisions. We also suggest one way to make observation of the key feature of the Efimov effect – geometrical scaling – more experimentally feasible.     

三体系统中的Efimov态(英文)

通过求解Faddeev方程, 研究了量子三体系统中的Efimov效应。 改进了变分方法对于求解激发态的不足。 在不同的两体作用下得到了三体系统中的Efimov态。 讨论了在不同质量比的三体系统中出现Efimov态的条件。 并由三体计算的结果分析了具有两个价中子的核系统在两体存在束缚态时可能存在的Efimov效应。We studied the Efimov effect in a three body system by solving the Faddeev equations. Different models and interactions were considered. The occurrence of Efimov states was discussed. The possible Efimov state was clearly presented and its properties were investigated.     

Universal Physics of 2+1 Particles with Non-Zero Angular Momentum

The zero-energy universal properties of scattering between a particle and a dimer that involves an identical particle are investigated for arbitrary scattering angular momenta. For this purpose, we derive an integral equation that generalises the Skorniakov?CTer-Martirosian equation to the case of non-zero angular momentum. As the mass ratio between the particles is varied, we find various scattering resonances that can be attributed to the appearance of universal trimers and Efimov trimers at the collisional threshold.     

Dilute quantum droplets

In the limit when the two-body scattering length a is negative and much larger than the effective two-body interaction radius the contribution to the ground state energy due to the three-body correlations is given by the Efimov effect. For particular values of the diluteness parameter rho/a/(3) the three-body contribution can become the dominant term of the energy density functional. Under these conditions both Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac systems could become self-bound and either boson droplets or fermion "designer nuclei" of various sizes and densities could be manufactured.     

Three-Body Physics in a Finite Volume

Three particles with large two-body scattering lengths display universal properties including a spectrum of three-body bound states called “Efimov trimers”. I calculate the spectrum of three identical bosons inside a finite cubic box below the three-body breakup threshold. The dependence of the spectrum on the box size and the effects of the breakdown of spherical symmetry are investigated using effective field theory. The renormalization of the effective field theory in the finite volume is explicitly verified. The study of the three-nucleon system inside a finite cubic volume provides a tool for the understanding of Lattice QCD results. I study the triton in a finite volume at physical and unphysical pion masses.     

Measurement of an Efimov trimer binding energy in a three-component mixture of 6Li

The binding energy of an Efimov trimer state was precisely determined via radio-frequency association. It is found that the measurement results shift significantly with temperature, but that the shift becomes negligible at the lowest temperature in our experiment. The shift-free part of the trimer binding energy reveals a significant deviation from the nonuniversal theory prediction based on a three-body parameter with a monotonic binding-energy dependence.     

Properties of pseudopotentials for higher partial waves

Contact psuedopotentials for relative angular momentum greater than zero are of interest for the study of cold atomic gases. For bosons, it is known that when the s-wave scattering length becomes infinite, an infinite number of three-body bound states, called Efimov states, are predicted by such potentials. Realistic potentials also exhibit the such states, thus a study of the Efimov effect for contact psuedopotentials for higher partial waves and fermions is important for the study of cold atoms. In this Letter we analyze three-body states of three particles interacting via psuedopotentials for higher partial waves and show that there is an Efimov effect for three fermions interacting via p-wave psuedopotentials.     

The Universality of the Efimov Three-body Parameter

In this paper we discuss the recent discovery of the universality of the three-body parameter (3BP) from Efimov physics. This new result was identified by recent experimental observations in ultracold quantum gases where the value of the s-wave scattering length, a = a _?, at which the first Efimov resonance is created was found to be nearly the same for a range of atomic species — if scaled as a _?/r _vdW, where r _vdW is the van der Waals length. Here, we discuss some of the physical principles related to these observations that emerge from solving the three-body problem with van der Waals interactions in the hyperspherical formalism. We also demonstrate the strong three-body multichannel nature of the problem and the importance of properly accounting for nonadiabatic effects.