Analytic representation of the Efimov effect in the helium trimer

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2004 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.69.064102· OSTI ID:20643828

Lohr, Lawrence L; Blinder, S M ^[1]

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1. Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1055 (United States)

Exact solutions for the low-temperature helium dimer and trimer, {sup 4}He{sub 2} and {sup 4}He{sub 3}, are derived, based on our {delta} function model for the interatomic potential. For the trimer, the Faddeev equations are shown to be separable in hyperspherical coordinates, with the S-wave alone giving an exact solution. The parameters {lambda}{sub 0} and r{sub 0} are fitted to accurate computations on the dimer and trimer. Excited states of the trimer are shown to exhibit the Efimov effect, whereby artificially reducing the strength of the two-body potential causes an infinite number of weakly-bound levels to condense out of the continuum. All the features anticipated by Efimov are quantitatively reproduced within our model. Since short-range details of the intermolecular forces are not relevant, our results can be considered to be universally applicable.

• OSTI ID: 20643828
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 69, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.69.064102; (c) 2004 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
BOUND STATE
COORDINATES
DELTA FUNCTION
DIMERS
EFIMOV EFFECT
EXACT SOLUTIONS
EXCITED STATES
FADDEEV EQUATIONS
HELIUM
INTERMOLECULAR FORCES
MOLECULES
POTENTIAL ENERGY
POTENTIALS
S WAVES
TWO-BODY PROBLEM