Resonance-to-bound transition of ${}^5$He in neutron matter and its analogy with heteronuclear Feshbach molecule

Abstract

We theoretically investigate the fate of a neutron-alpha $p$-wave resonance in dilute neutron matter, which may be encountered in neutron stars and supernova explosions. While ${}^5$He is known as a resonant state that decays to a neutron and an alpha particle in vacuum, this unstable state turns into a stable bound state in the neutron Fermi sea because the decay process is forbidden by the Pauli-blocking effect of neutrons. Such a resonance-to-bound transition assisted by the Pauli-blocking effect can be realized in cold atomic experiments for a quantum mixture near the heteronuclear Feshbach resonance.

Comments: 7 pages, 4 figures