Speaker
Prof.
Nikolaj Zinner
(University of Århus)
Description
The famous prediction of Efimov [1] that an infinitude of
three-body bound states appear in shortrange
interacting three-dimensional systems when there is a
two-body bound state at zero energy has
generated a large amount of interest in the cold atomic
gas community after its initial observation in
133Cs [2]. The theoretical description of these
experiments have thus far used the vacuum formalism.
However, current experiments are in a regime where the
background energy scale (such as the Fermi
energy in degenerate Fermi systems) can play a
significant role. We demonstrate that while Efimov
states can be strongly perturbed by the background, the
original scaling ideas play a crucial role for the
manner in which the states change. In fact, we find that
scaling laws related to the background
parameters emerges that should be observable in
current experiments [3].
References:
[1] Efimov, V. Weakly bound states of three resonantly
interacting particles. Yad. Fiz. 12, 1080-1091
(1970); Sov. J. Nucl. Phys. 12, 589-595 (1971);
[2] T. Kraemer et al., Evidence for Efimov quantum states
in an ultracold gas of caesium atoms,
Nature 440, pp. 315-318 (2006).
[3] N. G. Nygaard and N. T. Zinner, The Fate of the
Efimov Effect in a Many-Body World,
arXiv:1110.5854
Primary author
Prof.
Nikolaj Zinner
(University of Århus)
