Speaker
Prof.
Blayne Heckel
(University of Washington)
Description
Observation of a nonzero EDM would imply CP violation beyond the Standard Model. Additional sources of CP violation are expected to help explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in our universe and naturally arise in extensions to the standard model such as supersymmetry.
Our group has recently reported a new upper limit: |d_{Hg}| < 3.1 x 10^{-29} e-cm for the EDM of 199Hg. The experiment compared the spin precession frequencies in four spin-polarized Hg vapor cells: two cells lie in parallel magnetic and anti-parallel electric fields, resulting in EDM-sensitive spin precession while the remaining two cells, at zero electric field, serve to cancel noise generated by magnetic field gradients and test for systematic errors. A frequency shift, linear in the applied electric field, due to the Stark mixing ofatomic states has been identified and measured. A description of the EDM experiment and measurements that led to our recent result will be presented.
This work was supported by NSF Grant PHY-0457320 and the DOE Office of Nuclear Science.
Primary author
Prof.
Blayne Heckel
(University of Washington)
