Inelastic and elastic collision rates for triplet states of ultracold strontium

Abstract

We report measurement of the inelastic and elastic collision rates for $^{88}\text{S}\text{r}$ atoms in the $(5s5p){^{3}P}_{0}$ state in a crossed-beam optical dipole trap. Since the $(5s5p){^{3}P}_{0}$ state is the lowest level of the triplet manifold, large loss rates indicate the importance of principle-quantum-number-changing collisions at short range. We also provide an estimate of the collisional loss rates for the $(5s5p){^{3}P}_{2}$ state. Large loss-rate coefficients for both states indicate that evaporative cooling toward quantum degeneracy in these systems is unlikely to be successful.