Signatures of Non-universal Quantum Dynamics of Ultracold Chemical Reactions of Polar Alkali Dimer Molecules with Alkali Metal Atoms: Li(²S) + NaLi(a³Σ⁺) → Na(²S) + Li₂(a³Σu⁺)

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Ultracold chemical reactions of weakly bound triplet-state alkali metal dimer molecules have recently attracted much experimental interest. We perform rigorous quantum scattering calculations with a new ab initio potential energy surface to explore the chemical reaction of spin-polarized NaLi( a 3 Σ + ) and Li( 2 S) to form Li 2 ( a 3 Σ u + ) and Na( 2 S). The reaction is exothermic and proceeds readily at ultralow temperatures. Significantly, we observe strong sensitivity of the total reaction rate to small variations of the three-body part of the Li 2 Na interaction at short range, which we attribute to a relatively small number of open Li 2 ( a 3 Σ u + ) product channels populated in the reaction. This provides the first signature of highly non-universal dynamics seen in rigorous quantum reactive scattering calculations of an ultracold exothermic insertion reaction involving a polar alkali dimer molecule, opening up the possibility of probing microscopic interactions in atom+molecule collision complexes via ultracold reactive scattering experiments.