Control, Manipulation and Dynamics of Ultracold Molecules and Plasmas

在这个项目中，作为光学科学与工程多学科研究跨部门计划的一部分，康涅狄格大学的William Stwalley和他的同事将把用于控制和操纵原子和原子离子的光学和其他物理技术（如冷却和捕获）扩展到用于研究超冷化学反应和非弹性碰撞的分子和分子离子。在接近0.001 K的温度下，这种超冷碰撞动力学几乎没有被探索过，但它们被预测会表现出对相互作用细节高度敏感的极端量子行为，包括碰撞能量和所涉及的量子态。超冷原子的光结合可形成超冷分子。化学反应，如低温氢分子束和激光冷却铯原子之间的化学反应，将在低温和超冷状态下进行探索，即分别在低于10 K和1 mK的温度下。激光操作技术已经被证明对原子非常有效，它将被扩展到对分子和分子离子的研究。新的化学过程和物理行为预计将被发现在这个程序中检查的超冷温度区域。这项跨学科的研究将在几个层面上产生重大的教育影响。

In this project, part of the Cross-Directorate program for Multidisciplinary Research in Optical Science and Engineering, William Stwalley and colleagues at the University of Connecticut will extend optical and other physical techniques for control and manipulation of atoms and atomic ions, such as cooling and trapping, to molecules and molecular ions for studies of ultracold chemical reactions and inelastic collisions. Such ultracold collision dynamics, at temperatures near 0.001 K, are virtually unexplored, but they are predicted to show extreme quantum behavior which is highly sensitive to details of the interactions, including the collision energy and quantum states involved. Ultracold molecules will be formed by photoassociation of ultracold atoms. Chemical reactions, such as between a cryogenic beam of molecular hydrogen and laser-cooled cesium atoms, will be explored in both the cold and ultracold regimes, that is, at temperatures less than 10 K and 1 mK, respectively. The techniques of laser manipulation, which have proven so fruitful with atoms, will be extended to allow investigations involving molecules and molecular ions. Novel chemical processes and physical behavior are expected to be found in the ultracold temperature region examined in this program. This interdisciplinary research will have significant educational impact at several levels.