Anomalous lifetimes of ultracold complexes decaying into a single channel

Abstract

We investigate the lifetimes of complexes formed in ultracold molecule collisions. Employing both transition-state theory and a non-Hermitian microscopic model, we examine processes that can extend the lifetime of complexes beyond that predicted by Rice-Ramsperger-Kassel-Marcus (RRKM) theory. We focus on complexes that possess only one open channel, and find that the extreme distribution of widths for this case favors low decay rates. Thus, decay from a complex into a single energetically available channel can be anomalously slow, even orders of magnitude slower than the RRKM rate, and moreover the decay may be nonexponential in time.