| Summary: | This thesis reports measurements of interactions in Fermi-Bose 6Li-133Cs mixtures. Precise control of this Bose-Fermi mixture allowed us to probe few-body physics in regimes which were previously inaccessible. In particular, we performed the first model-independent test of geometric scaling of Efimov physics and probed Efimov resonances farther in the weakly coupled, narrow resonance regime than previously possible.
For this work, we built a new apparatus which overcomes the many challenges faced by Li-Cs mixtures. We developed several novel dipole trapping schemes which overcome the difficulties of mixing Li and Cs, including the large differences in initial trapping and cooling between these atomic species and a large differential gravitational sag. We also achieved part per million level magnetic field control near 900 G, necessary for the precise measurements near narrow Feshbach resonances undertaken in this thesis, by pioneering a tomographic magnetic field calibration technique.
With this apparatus, we first probed the Feshbach resonances of the Li-Cs mixture. This is an essential first step, allowing us to understand and control the two-body interactions between our atoms. Next we began to probe Efimov physics, an important three-body phenomenon wherein an infinite series of three-body bound states arise near two-body scattering resonances, such as Feshbach resonances. We demonstrated the universal scaling expected theoretically for Efimov states near a Feshbach resonance. This task was made feasible in our system by a reduced Efimov scaling constant, yet still required precise magnetic field control. Finally, additional universal behavior of the first Efimov resonance has been observed empirically in a variety of atomic systems. While theory has explained this observed universality, predictions also indicate departures for narrow Feshbach resonances, contrary to previous experimental results. By further improving our magnetic field control to probe a very narrow Feshbach resonance, we have observed a departure from the universal first Efimov resonance, helping to resolve this conflict between experiment and theory.
|
|---|
