Department of Physics and Astronomy, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-2814, USA.
Rep Prog Phys. 2012 Apr;75(4):046401. doi: 10.1088/0034-4885/75/4/046401. Epub 2012 Mar 7.
Few-body physics has played a prominent role in atomic, molecular and nuclear physics since the early days of quantum mechanics. It is now possible-thanks to tremendous progress in cooling, trapping and manipulating ultracold samples-to experimentally study few-body phenomena in trapped atomic and molecular systems with unprecedented control. This review summarizes recent studies of few-body phenomena in trapped atomic and molecular gases, with an emphasis on small trapped systems. We start by introducing the free-space scattering properties and then investigate what happens when two particles, bosons or fermions, are placed in an external confinement. Next, various three-body systems are treated analytically in limiting cases. Our current understanding of larger two-component Fermi systems and Bose systems is reviewed, and connections with the corresponding bulk systems are established. Lastly, future prospects and challenges are discussed. Throughout this review, commonalities with other systems such as nuclei or quantum dots are highlighted.
自量子力学早期以来，少体物理学就在原子、分子和核物理学中发挥了重要作用。由于在冷却、捕获和操纵超冷样品方面取得了巨大进展，现在有可能在具有前所未有的控制能力的囚禁原子和分子系统中实验研究少体现象。这篇综述总结了最近在囚禁原子和分子气体中研究少体现象的进展，重点介绍了小囚禁系统。我们首先介绍自由空间散射特性，然后研究当两个粒子（玻色子或费米子）被置于外部约束中时会发生什么。接下来，在极限情况下对各种三体系统进行了分析处理。我们综述了对较大的两分量费米系统和玻色系统的当前理解，并建立了与相应的体系统的联系。最后，讨论了未来的前景和挑战。在整篇综述中，强调了与其他系统（如原子核或量子点）的共同点。
