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Symmetry and self-bound droplets in dipolar molecular gases

D. Baillie*

  • *Contact author: danny.baillie@otago.ac.nz
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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023219 – Published 28 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/l9wk-v25v

Abstract

Recent experiments with degenerate molecular gases dressed by elliptically polarized microwave fields have enabled new control of dipolar interactions via engineered anisotropy. We reveal a symmetry structure of the dipolar interaction that generates degeneracies among the interaction parameters, enabling a classification of spatial symmetries and equilibrium shapes of the gases. Exploiting these symmetries, we analyze solutions including beyond-mean-field quantum fluctuations in the dilute gas regime and develop a complementary variational theory. We map out the phase diagram of self-bound droplets and characterize their widths, energies, and densities.

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Phys. Rev. Research 8, 023219– Published 28 May, 2026
  • Received 7 October 2025
  • Accepted 11 May 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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