Ultracold molecules from ultracold atoms: a case study with the KRb molecule

Abstract

Ultracold collisions of cold atoms or molecules make the bound states of the collision complex formed from the two colliding species accessible for control and manipulation of the cold species or the complex. Such resonances are best treated by a resonant scattering theory, which in the ultracold domain can take advantage of the properties of the long-range potential and the methods of multichannel quantum defect theory. Coupled channels calculations on the threshold scattering states and bound states of the ⁴⁰K⁸⁷Rb molecule illustrate the ideas and methodology of quantum defect theory using the long-range potential and also demonstrate the spin properties of the bound states throughout the spectrum.