A scattering model is developed for ultracold molecular collisions, which allows inelastic processes, chemical reactions, and complex formation to be treated in a unified way. All these scattering processes and various combinations of them are possible in ultracold molecular gases, and as such this model will allow the rigorous parametrization of experimental results. In addition we show how, once extracted, these parameters can be related to the physical properties of the system, shedding light on fundamental aspects of molecular collision dynamics.

• Received 1 June 2020
• Accepted 11 August 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.102.033306