Evidence for Different Interaction Potentials for He4 -He4 and He3 -He3 from Scattering Cross-Section Measurements

Abstract

By means of low-energy cross-section measurements on ${\mathrm{He}}^3$-${\mathrm{He}}^3$, we derive an interatomic potential which has a minimum 3.4% deeper than that of ${\mathrm{He}}^4$-${\mathrm{He}}^4$. We demonstrate that the difference in the potentials is significant. The atomic-mass polarization effect is proposed as a possible explanation for the different potentials.