Scaling symmetry of Efimov states in a Fermi-Bose Li-Cs mixture

Seminar

Discrete scaling symmetry, shown in Russian nesting dolls and in the self-similar structure of snow flakes, displays a unique form of beauty in art and in nature. In quantum world, the discrete scaling symmetry is rare and implies a long-range correlations resulting in a log-periodic behavior in their observables. Nuclear physicist Vitaly Efimov predicted in 1970 that a universal set of three-body bound states with the scaling symmetry emerges when the pair-wise interactions are resonantly enhanced. Efimov's conjecture has stimulated wide range of interest in nuclear, atomic and high-energy physics. Remarkably, Efimov states have been recently identified in many cold atom systems. In this talk, we report the observation of three consecutive Efimov states in a Fermi-Bose ^6 Li-^133 Cs mixture near a broad interspecies Feshbach resonance. The states are revealed from the resonance structure in the three-body loss spectrum. The resonance positions follow closely a geometric progression and provide a model-independent confirmation of the discrete scaling symmetry.

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