Person:

Hutzler, Nicholas

The electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) is a signature of CP-violating physics beyond the Standard Model. We describe an ongoing experiment to measure or set improved limits to the eEDM, using a cold beam of thorium monoxide (ThO) molecules. The metastable (H) (^{3})(\Delta)(_{ 1}) state in ThO has important advantages for such an experiment. We argue that the statistical uncertainty of an eEDM measurement could be improved by as much as 3 orders of magnitude compared to the current experimental limit, in a first-generation apparatus using a cold ThO beam. We describe our measurements of the (H) state lifetime and the production of ThO molecules in a beam, which provide crucial data for the eEDM sensitivity estimate. ThO also has ideal properties for the rejection of a number of known systematic errors; these properties and their implications are described.

The metastable (H\ ^3\Delta_1) state in the thorium monoxide (ThO) molecule is highly sensitive to the presence of a CP-violating permanent electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM). The magnetic dipole moment (\mu_H) and the molecule-fixed electric dipole moment (D_H) of this state are measured in preparation for a search for the eEDM. The small magnetic moment (\mu_H = 8.5(5) \times 10^{-3}\ \mu_B) displays the predicted cancellation of spin and orbital contributions in a (^3\Delta_1) paramagnetic molecular state, providing a significant advantage for the suppression of magnetic field noise and related systematic effects in the eEDM search. In addition, the induced electric dipole moment is shown to be fully saturated in very modest electric fields ((<) 10 V/cm). This feature is favorable for the suppression of many other potential systematic errors in the ThO eEDM search experiment.

Cryogenically cooled buffer gas beam sources of the molecule thorium monoxide (ThO) are optimized and characterized. Both helium and neon buffer gas sources are shown to produce ThO beams with high flux, low divergence, low forward velocity, and cold internal temperature for a variety of stagnation densities and nozzle diameters. The beam operates with a buffer gas stagnation density of (\sim 10^{15}-10^{16}) cm(^{-3}) (Reynolds number (\sim 1-100)), resulting in expansion cooling of the internal temperature of the ThO to as low as 2 K. For the neon (helium) based source, this represents cooling by a factor of about 10 (2) from the initial nozzle temperature of about 20 K (4 K). These sources deliver (\sim 10^{11}) ThO molecules in a single quantum state within a 1-3 ms long pulse at 10 Hz repetition rate. Under conditions optimized for a future precision spectroscopy application [A C Vutha et al 2010 J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 43 074007], the neon-based beam has the following characteristics: forward velocity of 170 m/s, internal temperature of 3.4 K, and brightness of (3 \times 10^{11}) ground state molecules per steradian per pulse. Compared to typical supersonic sources, the relatively low stagnation density of this source, and the fact that the cooling mechanism relies only on collisions with an inert buffer gas, make it widely applicable to many atomic and molecular species, including those which are chemically reactive, such as ThO.

The charge distribution associated with an electron has surprising implications for a number of outstanding mysteries in physics. Why is the universe made out of matter versus anti-matter, instead of both equally? What new particles and interactions lie beyond the current reach of accelerators like the LHC? Models which propose answers to these questions, such as Supersymmetry, tend to predict a small, yet potentially measurable, asymmetric interaction between an electron and an electric field, characterized by an electric dipole moment (EDM). Despite over six decades of experimental searching, no EDM of any fundamental particle has ever been measured; however, these experiments continue to provide some of the most stringent limits on new physics. Here, we present the results of a new search for the electron EDM, (d_e = (-2.1 \pm 3.7_{stat} \pm 2.5_{syst}) \times 10^{-29}) e cm, which represents an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity from the previous best limit. Since our measurement is consistent with zero, we present the upper limit of (|d_e| < 8.7\times 10^{-29}) e cm with 90 percent confidence.

The current limit on the electron’s electric dipole moment, de < 8.7 x 10−29 e cm (90% confidence), was set using the molecule thorium monoxide (ThO) in the J = 1 rotational level of its H 3(delta)1 electronic state (J. Baron et al., Science 343, 269 (2014)). This state in ThO is very robust against systematic errors related to magnetic fields or geometric phases, due in part to its -doublet structure. These systematics can be further suppressed by operating the experiment under conditions where the g-factor difference between the doublets is minimized. We consider the g factors of the ThO H 3(delta)1 state both experimentally and theoretically, including dependence on doublets, the rotational level, and the external electric field. The calculated and measured values are in good agreement. We find that the g-factor difference between doublets is smaller in J = 2 than in J = 1 and reaches zero at an experimentally accessible electric field. This means that the H,J = 2 state should be even more robust against a number of systematic errors compared to H,J = 1.

Heavy diatomic molecules have been identified as good candidates for use in electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) searches. Suitable molecular species can be produced in pulsed beams, but with a total flux and/or temporal evolution that varies significantly from pulse to pulse. These variations can degrade the experimental sensitivity to changes in the spin precession phase of an electrically polarized state, which is the observable of interest for an eEDM measurement. We present two methods for measurement of the phase that provide immunity to beam temporal variations, and make it possible to reach shot-noise-limited sensitivity. Each method employs rapid projection of the spin state onto both components of an orthonormal basis. We demonstrate both methods using the eEDM-sensitive H 3[delta]1 state of thorium monoxide, and use one of them to measure the magnetic moment of this state with increased accuracy relative to previous determinations.

The metastable H3[delta]1 state in the thorium monoxide (ThO) molecule is highly sensitive to the presence of a CP-violating permanent electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) [E. R. Meyer and J. L. Bohn, Phys. Rev. A 78, 010502 (2008)]. The magnetic dipole moment μH and the molecule-fixed electric dipole moment DH of this state are measured in preparation for a search for the eEDM. The small magnetic moment [mu]H = 8.5(5) × 10−3 [mu]B displays the predicted cancellation of spin and orbital contributions in a 31 paramagnetic molecular state, providing a significant advantage for the suppression of magnetic field noise and related systematic effects in the eEDM search. In addition, the induced electric dipole moment is shown to be fully saturated in very modest electric fields (<10 V/cm). This feature is favorable for the suppression of many other potential systematic errors in the ThO eEDM search experiment.

Measurement of a non-zero electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron within a few orders of magnitude of the current best limit of |de| < 1.05×10−27 e · cm would be an indication of physics beyond the Standard Model. The ACME Collaboration is searching for an electron EDM by performing a precision measurement of electron spin precession in the metastable H 3Delta_1 state of thorium monoxide (ThO) using a slow, cryogenic beam. We discuss the current status of the experiment. Based on a data set acquired from 14 hours of running time over a period of 2 days, we have achieved a 1-sigma statistical uncertainty of d(de) = 1×10^−28 e · cm/√T ,where T is the running time in days.

We recently set a new limit on the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) (J Baron et al and ACME collaboration 2014 Science 343 269–272), which represented an order-of-magnitude improvement on the previous limit and placed more stringent constraints on many charge-parity violating extensions to the standard model. In this paper we discuss the measurement in detail. The experimental method and associated apparatus are described, together with the techniques used to isolate the eEDM signal. In particular, we detail the way experimental switches were used to suppress effects that can mimic the signal of interest. The methods used to search for systematic errors, and models explaining observed systematic errors, are also described. We briefly discuss possible improvements to the experiment.

When chemists run reactions, what they are really doing is mixing up an enormous number of reacting partners and then hoping that they collide productively. It is possible to manipulate atoms more deliberately with a scanning tunneling microscope tip, but the process is then confined to a surface. Liu et al. directly manipulated individual atoms with light to form single molecules in isolation (see the Perspective by Narevicius). They used optical tweezers of two different colors to selectively steer ultracold sodium (Na) and cesium (Cs) atoms together. A subsequent optical excitation formed NaCs.