The electric dipole moment of the electron

Recent experimental progress in the search for atomic electric dipole moments (EDMs) $d_A$ of cesium and thallium leads in particular to a substantially increased sensitivity to a possible electron EDM $d_e$ compared with existing upper bounds. Further considerable improvement in the measurement of $d_{\mathrm{Tl}}$ is likely. After a brief synopsis of the theory of atomic EDMs, the authors discuss—in view of the expected experimental sensitivity to $d_e$—the predictions for the electron EDM in various models of $\mathrm{CP}$ violation.