Is a retarded electron transfer shorter lived?*

The Barium-Rubidium Interaction Experiment observes short lifetimes of central barium cations at ultracold temperatures due to electron transfer from the surrounding Bose-Einstein condensate of neutral rubidium atoms.

The question arises whether the coherence of the environment would at all play a role in fundamental interactions if the central cation is that short-lived.

This contribution presents semi-relativistic quantumelectrodynamic reasoning on the net-effect of the ultracold rubidium environment on the lifetime of the central barium cation.

Noteworthy is this result because it provides a generalization of resonant energy transfer theory simultaneously with a roadmap to an experimental confirmation of contributing coherence effects from the surrounding condensate on central impurities in a Bose-Einstein condensate.