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Precision Measurement of the Electron’s Electric Dipole Moment Using Trapped Molecular Ions

William B. Cairncross, Daniel N. Gresh, Matt Grau, Kevin C. Cossel, Tanya S. Roussy, Yiqi Ni, Yan Zhou, Jun Ye, and Eric A. Cornell
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 153001 – Published 9 October 2017
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Abstract

We describe the first precision measurement of the electron’s electric dipole moment (de) using trapped molecular ions, demonstrating the application of spin interrogation times over 700 ms to achieve high sensitivity and stringent rejection of systematic errors. Through electron spin resonance spectroscopy on Hf180F+19 in its metastable Δ31 electronic state, we obtain de=(0.9±7.7stat±1.7syst)×1029ecm, resulting in an upper bound of |de|<1.3×1028ecm (90% confidence). Our result provides independent confirmation of the current upper bound of |de|<9.4×1029ecm [J. Baron et al., New J. Phys. 19, 073029 (2017)], and offers the potential to improve on this limit in the near future.

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  • Received 21 April 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.153001

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalGeneral PhysicsParticles & Fields

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Trapped Ions Test Fundamental Particle Physics

Published 9 October 2017

New precision experiments using trapped molecular ions provide an alternative method for determining if the electron has an electric dipole moment.

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Authors & Affiliations

William B. Cairncross*, Daniel N. Gresh, Matt Grau, Kevin C. Cossel, Tanya S. Roussy, Yiqi Ni§, Yan Zhou, Jun Ye, and Eric A. Cornell

  • JILA, NIST and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA and Department of Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0440, USA

  • *william.cairncross@colorado.edu
  • Present address: Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH Zürich, Otto-Stern-Weg 1, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
  • Present address: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA
  • §Present address: MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, Research Laboratory of Electronics, and Department of Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA

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Vol. 119, Iss. 15 — 13 October 2017

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