Abstract
We investigate the relation between the thermalization cross section
⟨σ⟩T and the scattering length a of
spin-polarized metastable neon (Ne*) in the Doppler-limited
temperature regime. We show that a temperature-dependent,
quantum-mechanical, five-channel calculation allows one to obtain a
consistent with the mass scaling rule between Ne*20 and Ne*22 from
recent data of ⟨σ⟩T by Spoden [Phys. Rev.
Lett. 94, 223201 (2005)]. We find
a=+24-5+5a0 or
a=-128-22+16a0 for Ne*20 and
+115≲a≲+160a0 for Ne*22 , respectively. According
to numerical simulations of the evaporative cooling process, these
values of a are not large enough to make Bose-Einstein condensation of
Ne* feasible for realistic experimental conditions, given
the measured ionization rate constants.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 012712 |
| Pages (from-to) | 012712-1/6 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Physical Review A: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics |
| Volume | 73 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2006 |
Keywords
- Electronic excitation and ionization of atoms
- Optical cooling of atoms
- trapping
- Matter waves