We theoretically evaluate the feasibility to form magnetically-tunable Feshbach molecules in collisions between fermionic $^6$Li atoms and bosonic metastable $^{174}$Yb($^3$P$_2$) atoms. In contrast to the well-studied alkali-metal atom collisions, c
ollisions with meta-stable atoms are highly anisotropic. Our first-principle coupled-channel calculation of these collisions reveals the existence of broad Feshbach resonances due to the combined effect of anisotropic-molecular and atomic-hyperfine interactions. In order to fit our predictions to the specific positions of experimentally-observed broad resonance structures cite{Deep2015} we optimized the shape of the short-range potentials by direct least-square fitting. This allowed us to identify the dominant resonance by its leading angular momentum quantum numbers and describe the role of collisional anisotropy in the creation and broadening of this and other resonances.
A first principles study of the dynamics of $^6$Li($^{2}$S) + $^6$Li$^{174}$Yb($^2Sigma^+$)$ to ^6$Li$_2(^1Sigma^+$) + $^{174}$Yb($^1$S) reaction is presented at cold and ultracold temperatures. The computations involve determination and analytic fit
ting of a three-dimensional potential energy surface for the Li$_2$Yb system and quantum dynamics calculations of varying complexities, ranging from exact quantum dynamics within the close-coupling scheme, to statistical quantum treatment, and universal models. It is demonstrated that the two simplified methods yield zero-temperature limiting reaction rate coefficients in reasonable agreement with the full close-coupling calculations. The effect of the three-body term in the interaction potential is explored by comparing quantum dynamics results from a pairwise potential that neglects the three-body term to that derived from the full interaction potential. Inclusion of the three-body term in the close-coupling calculations was found to reduce the limiting rate coefficients by a factor of two. The reaction exoergicity populates vibrational levels as high as $v=19$ of the $^6$Li$_2$ molecule in the limit of zero collision energy. Product vibrational distributions from the close-coupling calculations reveal sensitivity to inclusion of three-body forces in the interaction potential. Overall, the results indicate that a simplified model based on the long-range potential is able to yield reliable values of the total reaction rate coefficient in the ultracold limit but a more rigorous approach based on statistical quantum or quantum close-coupling methods is desirable when product rovibrational distribution is required.
Precision measurements with ultracold molecules require development of robust and sensitive techniques to produce and interrogate the molecules. With this goal, we theoretically analyze factors that affect frequency measurements between rovibrational
levels of the Sr$_2$ molecule in the electronic ground state. This measurement can be used to constrain the possible time variation of the proton-electron mass ratio. Sr$_2$ is expected to be a strong candidate for achieving high precision due to the spinless nature and ease of cooling and perturbation-free trapping of Sr cite{Zelevinsky2008}. The analysis includes calculations of two-photon transition dipole moments between deeply and weakly bound vibrational levels, lifetimes of intermediate excited states, and Stark shifts of the vibrational levels by the optical lattice field, including possibilities of Stark-cancellation trapping.
