Anisotropic pseudopotential for polarized dilute quantum gases

An anisotropic pseudopotential arising in the context of collisions of two particles polarized by an external field is rigorously derived and its properties are investigated. Such a low-energy pseudopotential may be useful in describing collective properties of dilute quantum gases, such as molecules polarized by an electric field or metastable ³P₂ atoms polarized by a magnetic field. The pseudopotential is expressed in terms of the reactance (K) matrix and derivatives of the Dirac δ function. In most applications, it may be represented as a sum of a traditional spherically symmetric contact term and an anisotropic part. The former contribution may be parametrized by a generalized scattering length. The anisotropic part of the pseudopotential may be characterized by the off-diagonal scattering length for dipolar interactions and off-diagonal scattering volume for quadrupolar interactions. The two-body matrix element of the pseudopotential in a basis of plane waves is also derived.