Microscopy of an ultranarrow Feshbach resonance using a laser-based atom collider: A quantum defect theory analysis

Abstract

We employ a quantum defect theory framework to provide a detailed analysis of the interplay between a magnetic Feshbach resonance and a shape resonance in cold collisions of ultracold $^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms as captured in recent experiments using a laser-based collider [M. Chilcott et al., Phys. Rev. Research 3, 033209 (2021)]. By exerting control over a parameter space spanned by both collision energy and magnetic field, the width of a Feshbach resonance can be tuned over several orders of magnitude. We apply a quantum defect theory specialized for ultracold atomic collisions to fully describe of the experimental observations. While the width of a Feshbach resonance generally increases with collision energy, its coincidence with a shape resonance leads to a significant additional boost. By conducting experiments at a collision energy matching the shape resonance and using the shape resonance as a magnifying lens, we demonstrate a feature broadening to a magnetic width of 8 G compared to a predicted Feshbach resonance width much less than $0.1$ mG.