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arXiv · 2006.15238

Non-adiabatic quantum interference effects and chaoticity in the ultracold Li + LiNa $\to$ Li$_2$ + Na reaction

Brian K. Kendrick·Hui Li·Ming Li·Svetlana Kotochigova·James F. E. Croft·Naduvalath Balakrishnan
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Abstract

Electronically non-adiabatic effects play an important role in many chemical reactions. How these effects manifest in cold and ultracold chemistry remain largely unexplored. Here, through first principles non-adiabatic quantum dynamics calculations of the Li + LiNa $\to$ Li$_2$ + Na chemical reaction, it is shown that non-adiabatic dynamics induces quantum interference effects that dramatically alter the ultracold rotationally resolved reaction rate coefficients. The interference effect arises from a conical intersection between the ground and an excited electronic state that is energetically accessible even for ultracold collisions. These unique interference effects might be exploited for quantum control applications as a quantum molecular switch. A statistical analysis of rotational populations of the Li$_2$ product reveals a Poisson distribution implying an underlying classically chaotic dynamics. The Poisson distribution is robust and amenable to experimental verification and appears to be a universal property of ultracold reactions involving alkali metal dimers.

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Brian K. Kendrick, Hui Li, Ming Li, Svetlana Kotochigova, James F. E. Croft, Naduvalath Balakrishnan. 2020-06-26. Non-adiabatic quantum interference effects and chaoticity in the ultracold Li + LiNa $\to$ Li$_2$ + Na reaction. https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.15238

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