Improved measurement of the electron's electric dipole moment

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• Dhiren Kara (Imperial College)
• Friday 09 September 2011, 14:00-15:00
• Physics East 217.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Vincent Boyer.

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The electron is known to have a magnetic dipole moment. It could also have an electric dipole moment (EDM), which would require T-symmetry violation. The standard model predicts an almost vanishing electron EDM which is 11 orders of magnitude smaller than the sensitivity offered by current experiments. However, extensions to the model, such as supersymmetry, naturally predict ones that could be detected. Therefore, by making precise measurements of the EDM we can search for and guide new physics. This talk will describe our table-top experiment using a beam of cold YbF molecules that has recently shown that the EDM is < 10.5 × 10−28e .cm [1]. This measurement is the most stringent limit on the EDM and tightly constrains supersymmetric theories.

[1] Hudson, J. J. et al. Nature 473, 493–496 (2011): http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v473/n7348/full/nature10104.html.

This talk is part of the Cold Atoms series.

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