Eur. Phys. J. D 53, 27-32 (2009)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2009-00042-8

s-wave and p-wave scattering in a cold gas of Na and Rb atoms

¹ Centre de Recherche sur les Ions, les Matériaux et la Photonique, UMR CEA-CNRS-ENSICAEN-Université de Caen 6252, BP 5133, Boulevard Henri Becquerel, 14070 Caen, France
² Department of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

Corresponding author: ^a ouerdane@ganil.fr

Received: 5 September 2008
Revised: 14 November 2008
Published online: 13 February 2009

Abstract

Using improved experimentally based X¹Σ⁺ and a³Σ⁺ molecular potentials of NaRb, we apply the variable phase method to compute new data for low energy scattering of ²³Na atoms by ⁸⁵Rb atoms and ⁸⁷Rb atoms. These are the scattering lengths and volumes, numbers of bound states and effective ranges, which we use to obtain the low energy spin-change cross section as functions of the system temperature and the isotope masses. From an analysis of the contributions of s-wave and p-wave scatterings to the elastic cross section we estimate temperatures below which only s-wave scattering is dominant. We compare our quantal results to data obtained from the semiclassical approximation. We supply evidence for the existence of a near zero energy p-wave bound state supported by the singlet molecular potential.