Abstract
Hydrogen is of critical importance in atomic and molecular physics and the development of a simple and efficient technique for trapping cold and ultracold hydrogen atoms would be a significant advance. In this study we simulate a recently proposed trap-loading mechanism for trapping hydrogen atoms released from a neon matrix. Accurate ab initio quantum calculations are reported of the neon-hydrogen interaction potential and the energy- and angular-dependent elastic scattering cross sections that control the energy transfer of initially cold atoms are obtained. They are then used to construct the Boltzmann kinetic equation, describing the energy relaxation process. Numerical solutions of the Boltzmann equation predict the time evolution of the hydrogen energy distribution function. Based on the simulations we discuss the prospects of the technique.
Highlights
In the last decade there have been intense efforts to cool atoms leading to the study of states of the matter such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer behavior in dilute gases.[1,2] After the advent of buffer-gas loading[3] many atomic species have been trapped and cooled to ultracold temperatures
It can lead to the development of highly stable atomic clocks, and it is critical for comparison with cold antihydrogen atoms which are of fundamental interest in tests of CPT symmetry.[6,7]
An interesting proposal[8] has been advanced for using a trap-loading technique to capture hydrogen atoms released from a solid neon matrix, grown in a cell that contains a cold sapphire substrate. It consists of magnetically capturing the low energy fraction of the released paragmagnetic hydrogen atoms while the hostNeatoms stick to the walls
Summary
In the last decade there have been intense efforts to cool atoms leading to the study of states of the matter such as Bose–Einstein condensates and Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer behavior in dilute gases.[1,2] After the advent of buffer-gas loading[3] many atomic species have been trapped and cooled to ultracold temperatures. An interesting proposal[8] has been advanced for using a trap-loading technique to capture hydrogen atoms released from a solid neon matrix, grown in a cell that contains a cold sapphire substrate. It consists of magnetically capturing the low energy fraction of the released paragmagnetic hydrogen atoms while the hostNeatoms stick to the walls. Most of the temperature range in the proposed experiment is in the classical or quasiclassical regime of atomic motion and the classical kinetic Boltzmann equation should be adequate for a description of the energy transfer processes
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