Atomic-beam measurement of parity nonconservation in cesium

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1986 · Phys. Rev. A; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.34.792· OSTI ID:5413747

Gilbert, S L; Wieman, C E

We present a new measurement of parity nonconservation in cesium. In this experiment, a laser excited the 6S-italic..-->..7S-italic transition in an atomic beam in a region of static electric and magnetic fields. The quantity measured was the component of the transition rate arising from the interference between the parity nonconserving amplitude, s-italicc-italicr-italicE-italic/sub PNC/, and the Stark amplitude, ..beta..E-italic. Our results are Ims-italicc-italicr-italicE-italic/sub PNC//..beta.. = -1.65 +- 0.13 mV/cm and C-italic/sub 2//sub p-italic/ = -2 +- 2, where C-italic/sub 2//sub p-italic/ is the proton-axial-vector--electron-vector neutral-current coupling constant. These results are in agreement with previous less precise measurements in cesium and with the predictions of the electroweak standard model. We give a detailed discussion of the experiment with particular emphasis on the treatment and elimination of systematic errors. This experimental technique will allow future measurements of significantly higher precision.

• Research Organization: Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado and National Bureau of Standards, Campus Box 440, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440 and Physics Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440
• OSTI ID: 5413747
• Journal Information: Phys. Rev. A; (United States), Journal Name: Phys. Rev. A; (United States) Vol. 34:2; ISSN PLRAA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640302* -- Atomic
Molecular & Chemical Physics-- Atomic & Molecular Properties & Theory
645302 -- High Energy Physics-- Particle Invariance Principles & Symmetries-- Applications to Electromagnetic & Weak Interactions-- (-1987)
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ALKALI METALS
AMPLITUDES
ATOMIC BEAMS
BEAMS
CESIUM
CONFIGURATION MIXING
E1-TRANSITIONS
EIGENSTATES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
INTERACTIONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
LASER RADIATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METALS
MULTIPOLE TRANSITIONS
P INVARIANCE
PARTICLE MODELS
RADIATIONS
STANDARD MODEL
TRANSITION AMPLITUDES
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
WEINBERG ANGLE