No Arabic abstract
Polyatomic polar molecules are promising systems for future experiments that search for violation of time-reversal and parity symmetries due to their advantageous electronic and vibrational structure, which allows laser cooling, full polarisation of the molecule, and reduction of systematic effects [I. Kozyryev and N.R. Hutzler, Phys, Rev. Lett. {bf 119}, 133002 (2017)]. In this work we investigate the enhancement factor of the electric dipole moment of the electron ($E_text{eff}$) in the triatomic monohydroxide molecules BaOH and YbOH within the high-accuracy relativistic coupled cluster method. The recommended $E_text{eff}$ values of the two systems are 6.65 $pm$ 0.15 GV/cm and 23.4 $pm$ 1.0 GV/cm, respectively. We compare our results with similar calculations for the isoelectronic diatomic molecules BaF and YbF, which are currently used in experimental search for $P,T$-odd effects in molecules. The $E_text{eff}$ values prove to be very close, within about 1.5 $%$ difference in magnitude between the diatomic and the triatomic compounds. Thus, BaOH and YbOH have a similar enhancement of the electron electric dipole moment, while benefiting from experimental advantages, and can serve as excellent candidates for next-generation experiments.
If electrons had an electric dipole moment (EDM) they would induce EDMs of atoms. The ratio of the atomic EDM to the electron EDM for a particular atom is called the enhancement factor, R. We calculate the enhancement factor for the francium and gold atoms, with the results 910 plus/minus 5% for Fr and 260 plus/minus 15% for Au. The large values of these enhancement factors make these atoms attractive for electron EDM measurements, and hence the search for time-reversal invariance violation.
The relativistic coupled-cluster (RCC) method is a powerful many-body method, particularly in the evaluation of electronic wave functions of heavy atoms and molecules, and can be used to calculate various atomic and molecular properties. One such atomic property is the enhancement factor (R) of the atomic electric dipole moment (EDM) due to an electron EDM needed in electron EDM searches. The EDM of the electron is a sensitive probe of CP-violation, and its search could provide insights into new physics beyond the Standard Model, as well as open questions in cosmology. Electron EDM searches using atoms require the theoretical evaluation of R to provide an upper limit for the magnitude of the electron EDM. In this work, we calculate R of 210Fr in the ground state using an improved RCC method, and perform an analysis on the many-body processes occurring within the system. The RCC method allows one to capture the effects of both the electromagnetic interaction and P- and T-violating interactions, and our work develops this method beyond what had been implemented in the previous works. We also perform calculations of hyperfine structure constants, electric dipole transition matrix elements, and excitation energies, to assess the accuracy of R and the success of our improved method. Finally, we present calculations of R with corrections due to Breit interaction effects, approximate quantum electrodynamics (QED) effects, and some leading triple excitation terms added perturbatively, to assess how significantly these terms contribute to the result. We obtain a final value of R = 799, with an estimated 3% error, which is about 11% smaller than a previously reported theoretical calculation.
We demonstrate one-dimensional sub-Doppler laser cooling of a beam of YbF molecules to 100 $mu$K. This is a key step towards a measurement of the electrons electric dipole moment using ultracold molecules. We compare the effectiveness of magnetically-assisted and polarization-gradient sub-Doppler cooling mechanisms. We model the experiment and find good agreement with our data.
We propose a very sensitive method for measuring the electric dipole moment of the electron using polar molecules embedded in a cryogenic solid matrix of inert-gas atoms. The polar molecules can be oriented in the $hat{rm{z}}$ direction by an applied electric field, as has recently been demonstrated by Park, et al. [Angewandte Chemie {bf 129}, 1066 (2017)]. The trapped molecules are prepared into a state which has its electron spin perpendicular to $hat{rm{z}}$, and a magnetic field along $hat{rm{z}}$ causes precession of this spin. An electron electric dipole moment $d_e$ would affect this precession due to the up to 100~GV/cm effective electric field produced by the polar molecule. The large number of polar molecules that can be embedded in a matrix, along with the expected long coherence times for the precession, allows for the possibility of measuring $d_e$ to an accuracy that surpasses current measurements by many orders of magnitude. Because the matrix can inhibit molecular rotations and lock the orientation of the polar molecules, it may not be necessary to have an electric field present during the precession. The proposed technique can be applied using a variety of polar molecules and inert gases, which, along with other experimental variables, should allow for careful study of systematic uncertainties in the measurement.
Heavy polar molecules can be used to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, which is a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. The value is determined by measuring the precession of the molecules spin in a plane perpendicular to an applied electric field. The longer this precession evolves coherently, the higher the precision of the measurement. For molecules in a trap, this coherence time could be very long indeed. We evaluate the sensitivity of an experiment where neutral molecules are trapped electrically, and compare this to an equivalent measurement in a molecular beam. We consider the use of a Stark decelerator to load the trap from a supersonic source, and calculate the deceleration efficiency for YbF molecules in both strong-field seeking and weak-field seeking states. With a 1s holding time in the trap, the statistical sensitivity could be ten times higher than it is in the beam experiment, and this could improve by a further factor of five if the trap can be loaded from a source of larger emittance. We study some effects due to field inhomogeneity in the trap and find that rotation of the electric field direction, leading to an inhomogeneous geometric phase shift, is the primary obstacle to a sensitive trap-based measurement.