Control, Manipulation and Dynamics of Ultracold Molecules and Plasmas

在这个项目中，康涅狄格大学的William Stwalley和他的同事们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(如冷却和陷阱)扩展到分子和分子离子，用于研究超冷化学反应和非弹性碰撞。在接近0.001 K的温度下，这种超冷碰撞动力学实际上是未知的，但据预测，它们将显示出极端的量子行为，对相互作用的细节高度敏感，包括碰撞能量和涉及的量子态。超冷分子将通过超冷原子的光缔合而形成。化学反应，例如分子氢的低温光束和激光冷却的铯原子之间的反应，将在冷和超冷状态下进行探索，即分别在低于10K和1mK的温度下进行。激光操控技术已被证明对原子非常有效，它将被扩展到涉及分子和分子离子的研究。新的化学过程和物理行为有望在该计划所研究的超冷温度区域中被发现。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.