The seminar will take place from 11-12 p.m. PDT in Physics 375 North. Our speaker is Lev Khaykovich (Bar-Ilan Universty). Details are below.

Exploring few-body lithium puzzles

Few-body physics refers to few-body bound states formed when the two-body interactions are resonantly enhanced. An iconic paradigm in the field is the existence of Efimov trimers which are an example of discrete scale invariance in nature. Efimov trimers have been studied intensively for more than a decade in several atomic species and some conclusions have reached a consensus. One of them is the so-called “few-body lithium puzzle”. As an effort to solve this puzzle we developed a new experimental approach which explores coherent superposition of DIatomic and TRIatomic States (DITRIS interferometer) and measured the Efimov energy level with unprecedented precision. As a result, another puzzle has emerged. In this talk I will review the Efimov effect, experimental methods, the puzzles, and our recent attempt to solve them both.