The heteronuclear Efimov effect

Abstract

Ultracold quantum gases with large scattering length show resonant enhancement of three-body loss rates when an Efimov trimer is at the scattering threshold. We calculate the three-body loss rates in heteronuclear mixtures of atoms for the case of large scattering length between the unlike atoms. Using zero-range interactions, we present results from the numerical solution of the integral equations for the recombination amplitude in momentum space and extract expressions for the recombination rate constants. Moreover, we calculate the relative positions of loss features for different sign of the scattering length and a first comparison with available experimental data is shown.