Collaborative Proposal: Few-Body Interactions in Ultracold Quantum Gases

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The understanding of how systems containing many particles, so-called many-body systems, behave is a fundamental question driving modern research with impacts across multiple fields of science and technology. Dilute, ultra-cold atomic vapors provide a unique arena for the study of collective, many-body phenomena, and for exploring the relationship between few-body dynamics on the one-hand and the behavior of many-body systems on the other. This project aims at the development of improved theoretical understanding of a number of key aspects of few-body systems that are deeply quantum mechanical in nature and which occur within ultra-cold quantum gases. The work could potentially have unprecedented impact with far-reaching scientific and technological ramifications. For example, the ability to regulate few-body interactions within a complex system could significantly impact the possibilities for quantum control of chemical reaction dynamics. Furthermore, a deep understanding of the ultra-cold atom interactions can spawn applications to atomic clocks, quantum information science, and the exploration of many novel phases of matter. A key element of the project is the design of computational methods and techniques of analysis capable of describing ultra-cold few-body interactions far more realistically than any other existing methodologies. For example, the project will explore whether a laser field can change the interactions among three or four nearby atoms that are part of a many-body Bose-Einstein condensate. The central idea is that whenever a few atoms within the large ensemble temporarily collide, they can absorb or emit radiation as a unit. This resonant radiation has distinct frequencies which can be detected spectroscopically or tuned to alter the few-body dynamics. In accord with its general objective, the project has two specific goals; to develop coherent control of few-body interactions, and to explore new fundamental phenomena in the exotic interaction regime produced by artificial gauge fields. The project will also build on recent discoveries of few-body, Efimov resonances, in order to explore the relevance of Efimov physics to the control of many-body ultra-cold systems. The key educational impact of this work derives from the training of graduate and undergraduate students as well as postdoctoral researchers in state of the art theoretical and computational research techniques.