Eur. Phys. J. A (2007) 32: 113-120
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2006-10301-8

Regular Article - Interdisciplinary Topics

Universal properties of the four-body system with large scattering length

¹ Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik (Theorie), Universität Bonn, 53115, Bonn, Germany
² Department of Physics and Astronomy, Ohio University, 45701, Athens, OH, USA

^* e-mail: hammer@itkp.uni-bonn.de

Received: 30 October 2006
Accepted: 9 March 2007
Published online: 30 March 2007

Abstract

Few-body systems with large scattering length have universal properties that do not depend on the details of their interactions at short distances. We study the universal bound-state properties of the four-boson system with large scattering length in an effective quantum mechanics approach. We compute the four-body binding energies using the Yakubovsky equations for positive and negative scattering length. Moreover, we study the correlation between three- and four-body energies and present a generalized Efimov plot for the four-body system. These results are useful for understanding the cluster structure of nuclei and for the creation of weakly bound tetramers with cold atoms close to a Feshbach resonance.