title: Confinement effects on the stimulated dissociation of molecular Bose-Einstein condensates.
abstract: We show that a molecular Bose-Einstein condensate in a trap is stabilized against stimulated dissociation if the trap size is smaller than the resonance healing length (Planck's 2/2mgsqrt[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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O.B. 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel.
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tikhonenkov
authors.forename: Amichay
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vardi