Magnetic Field Dependence of Ultracold Inelastic Collisions near a Feshbach Resonance

Inelastic collision rates for ultracold $^{85}$Rb atoms in the F=2 m$_{f}$=-2 state have been measured as a function of magnetic field. Dramatic change in the vicinity of a Feshbach resonance at 155 G was observed. Similar to the elastic rate, the inelastic rates show a high peak and a deep trough. Both two- and three-body processes are important, and individual contributions have been determined and compared with theory. This work has made it possible to create an $^{85}$Rb Bose-Einstein condensate with a highly adjustable scattering length.