Proposal to directly observe the Kondo effect through enhanced photo-induced scattering of cold fermionic and bosonic atoms

We propose an experimental protocol to directly observe the Kondo effect by scattering ultracold atoms with spin-dependent interactions. The Kondo effect is a transport anomaly which occurs when conduction electrons interact with magnetic impurities. We consider an ultracold system consisting of a gas of fermionic $^6$Li atoms and a gas of bosonic $^{87}$Rb atoms, where $^6$Li atoms play the role of conduction electrons and $^{87}$Rb atoms play the role of magnetic impurities. We propose a method to engineer Kondo-like interactions between them. To measure the Kondo effect, we imagine launching the $^{87}$Rb gas into the $^6$Li gas, and calculate the momentum transferred to the $^6$Li gas. We show that the temperature dependence of this momentum is logarithmic at low temperatures and has a minimum, characteristic of the Kondo effect and analogous to the behavior of electrical resistance of magnetic alloys. Experimental implementation of our proposal will give a new perspective on an iconic problem.