Confinement effects on the stimulated dissociation of molecular BECs

Abstract

We show that a molecular BEC in a trap is stabilized against stimulated dissociation if the trap size is smaller than the resonance healing length $(\hbar^2/2mg\sqrt{n})^{1/2}$. The condensate shape determines the critical atom-molecule coupling frequency. We discuss an experiment for triggering dissociation by a sudden change of coupling or trap parameters. This effect demonstrates one of the unique collective features of 'superchemistry' in that the yield of a chemical reaction depends critically on the size and shape of the reaction vessel.