Multichannel cold collisions between metastable Sr atoms.

Abstract

We present a multichannel-scattering calculation of elastic and inelastic cold collisions between two low-field seeking, metastable 88Sr [(5s5p)3P2] atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. The scattering physics is governed by strong anisotropic long-range interactions, which lead to pronounced coupling among the partial waves of relative motion. As a result, nonadiabatic transitions are shown to trigger a high rate of inelastic losses. At relatively high energies, T>100 microK, the total inelastic collision rate is comparable with the elastic rate. However, at lower collisional energy, the elastic rate decreases, and at T approximately 1 microK, it becomes substantially smaller than the inelastic rate. Our study suggests that magnetic trapping and evaporative cooling of 88Sr [(5s5p)3P2] atoms, as well as 40Ca [(4s4p)3P2], in low-field seeking states will prove difficult to achieve experimentally.