REFINING MOLECULAR POTENTIALS USING ATOM INTERFEROMETRY

We present a theoretical study of the index of refraction of argon for the propagation of sodium matter waves. The sensitivity of the index of refraction to the details of the molecular potential curve is analy zed. Our calculations reveal velocity-dependent oscillations in the in dex of refraction that may be detectable, particularly at low temperat ures, in atom interferometry measurements. A procedure for refining mo lecular potential curves is outlined.