Unique molecular state at ultracold temperatures points way to controlling chemical reactions

Researchers on opposite sides of the Atlantic have unveiled new findings on the ways two different types of scattering resonances affect the interactions of ultracold molecules. The papers mark a further step towards coherent control of chemical reactions and could potentially aid the creation and understanding of exotic quantum matter.

Near absolute zero, the thermal motion that blurs the quantum behaviour of atoms and molecules at room temperature almost ceases. Researchers can therefore seek to understand chemistry at the quantum level and potentially go on to manipulate it.