Abstract

Collisions of atoms in superpositions of dissimilar states have special significance in that, classically, each state follows a different trajectory. Hence the scattering of such a system as a unit has no classical analog and is of fundamental interest. We report studies of velocity-changing collision kernels in ¹⁷⁴Yb for two types of superposition states: optical radiators, consisting of a ground S state and an excited P state, and P-state multipole moments, involving magnetic substate superpositions.

© 1984 Optical Society of America