Theory of long-range photoassociation of ultracold atoms with ultracold molecules

We present a dynamical model for photoassociation (PA) of ultracold alkali atoms with ultracold alkali molecules in their rovibrational ground state to create excited trimer molecules. The model involves the long-range multipolar interactions between the atom and the molecule calculated with the degenerate perturbation theory [1], connected to an arbitrary short-range potential. The rate is found significantly smaller than in the atom-atom case under typical MOT conditions, but is promising in the nanokelvin domain. We design a proposal for an experiment in the Mott insulator regime. Being a half-collision, PA could offer the possibility to probe the complex short-range dynamics along the lines developed in refs [2, 3]. \\[4pt] [1] M. Lepers and O. Dulieu, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13,19106 (2011).\\[0pt] [2] M. Mayle, B. P. Ruzic, and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. A 85, 062712 (2012).\\[0pt] [3] Z. Idziaszek, G. Qu\'em\'ener, J. L. Bohn, and P. S. Julienne, Phys. Rev. A 82, 020703(R) (2010)