Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 1, 2026

Setting Limits on Supersymmetry Using Simplified Models
Published on: November 15, 2013
Two-body and three-body contacts for identical Bosons near unitarity
D Hudson Smith1, Eric Braaten1, Daekyoung Kang2
1Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
Abstract:
In a recent experiment with ultracold trapped Rb85 atoms, Makotyn et al. studied a quantum-degenerate Bose gas in the unitary limit where its scattering length is infinitely large. We show that the observed momentum distributions are compatible with a universal relation that expresses the high-momentum tail in terms of the two-body contact C2 and the three-body contact C3. We determine the contact densities for the unitary Bose gas with number density n to be C2 ≈ 20 n(4/3) and C3 ≈ 2n(5/3). We also show that the observed atom loss rate is compatible with that from 3-atom inelastic collisions, which gives a contribution proportional to C3, but the loss rate is not compatible with that from 2-atom inelastic collisions, which gives a contribution proportional to C2. We point out that the contacts C2 and C3 could be measured independently by using the virial theorem near and at unitarity, respectively.
Related Concept Videos
Reduced Mass Coordinates: Isolated Two-body Problem
Two Force Member
Spin–Spin Coupling: Three-Bond Coupling (Vicinal Coupling)
The extent of coupling depends on the C‑C bond length, the two H‑C‑C angles, any electron-withdrawing substituents, and the dihedral angle between the...
First Law: Particles in Two-dimensional Equilibrium
Newton's first law tells us about...
Equations of Equilibrium in Three Dimensions
According to the vector equations of equilibrium, the vector sum of all the external forces acting on a body must...
The Pauli Exclusion Principle

