Experimental investigation of ultracold atom-molecule collisions

Ultracold collisions between Cs atoms and Cs2 dimers in the electronic ground state are observed in an optically trapped gas of atoms and molecules. The Cs2 molecules are formed in the triplet ground state by cw-photoassociation through the outer well of the 0g-(P3/2) excited electronic state. Inelastic atom-molecule collisions converting internal excitation into kinetic energy lead to a loss of Cs2 molecules from the dipole trap. Rate coefficients are determined for collisions involving Cs atoms in either the F=3 or F=4 hyperfine ground state and Cs2 molecules in either highly vibrationally excited states (v'=32-47) or in low vibrational states (v'=4-6) of the a ^3 Sigma_u^+ triplet ground state. The rate coefficients beta ~10^{-10} cm^3/s are found to be largely independent of the vibrational and rotational excitation indicating unitary limited cross sections.