Test of the universality of the three-body Efimov parameter at narrow Feshbach resonances

Phys Rev Lett. 2013 Aug 2;111(5):053202. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.053202. Epub 2013 Aug 1.

Abstract

We measure the critical scattering length for the appearance of the first three-body bound state, or Efimov three-body parameter, at seven different Feshbach resonances in ultracold ^{39}K atoms. We study both intermediate and narrow resonances, where the three-body spectrum is expected to be determined by the nonuniversal coupling of two scattering channels. Instead, our observed ratio of the three-body parameter with the van der Waals radius is approximately the same universal ratio as for broader resonances. This unexpected observation suggests the presence of a new regime for three-body scattering at narrow resonances.