Inelastic confinement-induced resonances in mixed-dimensional optical traps

Inelastic Confinement-Induced Resonances (ICIRs) were first observed in a fascinating experiment conducted in Innsbruck. ICIRs were observed in an ultracold quantum gas confined in a quasi-1D optical trap. More recently, the same group has also observed ICIRs in a 3D lattice. In both cases, the origin of ICIRs lies on the coupling between the center-of-mass and relative-motion coordinates due to the anharmonicities of the trapping potential.

In this communication, we present a mixed dimensional model, where the influence of the dimension on the ICIRs can be effectively described. ICIRs are identified by studying the energy spectra of two ultracold atoms one confined in a cuasi-1D trap or quasi-2D trap, and the other one in a 3D trap. A comparison to cuasi-1D and 3D traps is also performed.