Magnetic Field Dependence and Efimov Resonance Broadening in Ultracold Three-Body Recombination

Abstract

We derive an analytic formula which describes the final bound state dependence in ultracold three-body recombination. Using an energy-dependent loss parameter, the recently observed broad resonance in an ultracold gas of $^{6}$Li atoms [T. B. Ottenstein {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 203202 (2008)l J. H. Huckans {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 165302 (2009)] is described quantitatively. We also provide an analytic and approximation for the three-body recombination rate which encapsulates the underlying physics of the universal three-body recombination process.