Collisions of ultracold atoms in dc electric fields

It is demonstrated that elastic collisions of ultracold atoms forming a heteronuclear collision complex can be manipulated by laboratory feasible dc electric fields. The mechanism of electric field control is based on interaction of the instantaneous dipole moment of the collision pair with external electric fields. It is shown that this interaction is dramatically enhanced in the presence of an s-wave or p-wave scattering resonance at zero energy. It is demonstrated that electric fields may rotate and spin up the collision complex of ultracold atoms at substantial rates