Novel Phases and Dynamics of Molecular Condensates and Bose-Fermi Mixtures

This project supports two lines of research: (1) chemical reactions at ultralow temperatures. While conventional reactions are driven by thermodynamics through collisions, at temperatures of ~10^{-9} Kelvin and below new forms of chemical reactions, also known as “quantum super-chemistry”, are conjectured to emerge. The proposed work will discover guiding principles of quantum super-chemistry and develop innovative ideas and applications to steer these coherent chemical reactions. (2) Pairing in condensed and nuclear matter. Impurities in magnetic materials interact through the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida (RKKY) mechanism. In nuclear matter resonant pair-wise interactions are responsible for Efimov three-body bound states. This project will test an intriguing transition between the RKKY mechanism and Efimov states, predicted for quantum mixtures in the strong interaction regime. . The PI will also design a 5-day science outreach program every summer for 15 high school students from public schools in the Chicago area. The science research will be conducted on two platforms: Cs and a Li-Cs mixture. For the super-chemistry project, research on Bose-stimulated reactions in Cs and Cs2 atom-molecule condensates will provide a new understanding of reaction processes in the quantum regime. The results will offer new tools to steer coherent, state-to-state chemical reactions. For the RKKY-Efimov project, a Bose-Fermi mixture of cesium and lithium atoms will be employed near an interspecies Feshbach resonance to test the predicted connection between two-body pairing via the RKKY mechanism and three-body Efimov bound states. Confirmation of the transition will reveal the surprising link between condensed matter and nuclear physics in the strong coupling regime. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.