Research Highlights

Pancakes of Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of polar molecules are repulsive and potentially unstable. However, the physics of these dipolar condensates is delicious, according to research associate Shai Ronen, graduate student Daniele Bortolotti, and Fellow John Bohn. The JILA theorists recently studied BECs with purely dipolar interactions in oblate (pancake) traps.

When molecules smash into each other, things happen on the quantum level. Electrons get shoved around. They may even jump from one atom to another. Spin directions can change. A chemical reaction may even take place. Since it's not possible to directly observe this kind of electron behavior, scientists want to be able to probe it with novel spectroscopies. Now, thanks to a recent theoretical study, ultracold spectroscopy looks particularly promising for elucidating electron behavior during molecular impacts.