The role of collisions in the search for a permanent electron electric dipole moment

Journal Article · Sat May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Bulletin of the American Physical Society

OSTI ID:281302

Bijlsma, M; Verhaar, B J; Heinzen, D J ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

Measurements of the electron electric dipole moment have become an important tool in the search for new CP-violating interactions outside the standard model. Some extensions of the standard model predict a value of this moment of the order of the present experimental bound 10{sup -26} e{sm_bullet}cm, which underlines the need to improve this bound. Dramatic new opportunities in this regard are offered by present developments in laser cooling. We study possibilities based on measurements of the splitting between the M = -1 and +1 Zeeman sublevels of laser-cooled Cs atoms in an optical trap or in an atomic fountain in the presence of an electric field. However, the shift in frequency and the line broadening caused by atomic collisions could put severe restrictions on the hoped for improvement of the upper bound. We present the results of a coupled - channels calculation of these quantities and discuss the symmetry aspects and magnetic-field dependences.

• OSTI ID: 281302
• Report Number(s): CONF-9305421--
• Journal Information: Bulletin of the American Physical Society, Journal Name: Bulletin of the American Physical Society Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 38; ISSN 0003-0503; ISSN BAPSA6
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
COLLISIONS
CP INVARIANCE
ELECTRIC DIPOLE MOMENTS
ELECTRONS
SYMMETRY BREAKING