Improved Limits on Axionlike-Particle-Mediated P, T-Violating Interactions between Electrons and Nucleons from Electric Dipole Moments of Atoms and Molecules

Relativistic Exact Two-Component Coupled-Cluster Study of Molecular Sensitivity Factors for Nuclear Schiff Moments

Relativistic exact two-component coupled-cluster calculations of molecular sensitivity factors for nuclear Schiff moments (NSMs) are reported. We focus on molecules containing heavy nuclei, especially octupole-deformed nuclei. Analytic relativistic coupled-cluster gradient techniques are used and serve as useful tools for identifying candidate molecules that sensitively probe for physics beyond the Standard Model in the hadronic sector. Notably, these tools enable straightforward "black-box" calculations. Two competing chemical mechanisms that contribute to the NSM are analyzed, illuminating the physics of ligand effects on NSM sensitivity factors.

Opportunities for fundamental physics research with radioactive molecules

Molecules containing short-lived, radioactive nuclei are uniquely positioned to enable a wide range of scientific discoveries in the areas of fundamental symmetries, astrophysics, nuclear structure, and chemistry. Recent advances in the ability to create, cool, and control complex molecules down to the quantum level, along with recent and upcoming advances in radioactive species production at several facilities around the world, create a compelling opportunity to coordinate and combine these efforts to bring precision measurement and control to molecules containing extreme nuclei. In this manuscript, we review the scientific case for studying radioactive molecules, discuss recent atomic, molecular, nuclear, astrophysical, and chemical advances which provide the foundation for their study, describe the facilities where these species are and will be produced, and provide an outlook for the future of this nascent field.

New constraints on exotic spin-dependent interactions with an ensemble-NV-diamond magnetometer

Laboratory search of exotic interactions is crucial for exploring physics beyond the standard model. We report new experimental constraints on two exotic spin-dependent interactions at the micrometer scale based on ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. A thin layer of NV electronic spin ensembles is synthesized as the solid-state spin quantum sensor, and a lead sphere is taken as the interacting nucleon source. Our result establishes new bounds for two types of exotic spin interactions at the micrometer scale. For an exotic parity-odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction, improved bounds are set within the force range from 5 to 500 μm. The upper limit of the corresponding coupling constant [Formula: see text] at 330 μm is more than 1000-fold more stringent than the previous constraint. For the P, T-violating scalar-pseudoscalar nucleon-electron interaction, improved constraints are established within the force range from 6 to 45 μm. The limit of the corresponding coupling constant [Formula: see text] is improved by more than one order of magnitude at 30 μm. This work demonstrates that a solid-state NV ensemble can be a powerful platform for probing exotic spin-dependent interactions.

Constraints on Spin-Spin Velocity-Dependent Interactions

The existence of exotic spin-dependent forces may shine light on new physics beyond the standard model. We utilize two iron shielded SmCo_{5} electron-spin sources and two optically pumped magnetometers to search for exotic long-range spin-spin velocity-dependent force. The orientations of spin sources and magnetometers are optimized such that the exotic force is enhanced and common-mode noise is effectively subtracted. We set direct limit on proton-electron interaction in the force range from 1 cm to 1 km. Our experiment represents more than 10 orders of magnitude improvement than previous works.

Constraints on exotic spin-velocity-dependent interactions

Experimental searches for exotic spin-dependent forces are attracting a lot of attention because they allow to test theoretical extensions to the standard model. Here, we report an experimental search for possible exotic spin-dependent force, specifically spin-and-velocity-dependent forces, by using a K-Rb-²¹Ne co-magnetometer and a tungsten ring featuring a high nucleon density. Taking advantage of the high sensitivity of the co-magnetometer, the pseudomagnetic field from this exotic force is measured to be ≤7 aT. This sets limits on coupling constants for the neutron-nucleon and proton-nucleon interactions in the range of ≥0.1 m (mediator boson mass ≤2 μeV). The coupling constant limits are established to be [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], which are more than one order of magnitude tighter than astronomical and cosmological limits on the coupling between the new gauge boson such as Z' and standard model particles.

Limits on Axions and Axionlike Particles within the Axion Window Using a Spin-Based Amplifier

Searches for the axion and axionlike particles may hold the key to unlocking some of the deepest puzzles about our Universe, such as dark matter and dark energy. Here, we use the recently demonstrated spin-based amplifier to constrain such hypothetical particles within the well-motivated "axion window" (10  μeV-1  meV) through searching for an exotic dipole-dipole interaction between polarized electron and neutron spins. The key ingredient is the use of hyperpolarized long-lived ^{129}Xe nuclear spins as an amplifier for the pseudomagnetic field generated by the exotic interaction. Using such a spin sensor, we obtain a direct upper bound on the product of coupling constants g_{p}^{e}g_{p}^{n}. The spin-based amplifier technique can be extended to searches for a wide variety of hypothetical particles beyond the standard model.

Search for exotic spin-dependent interactions with a spin-based amplifier

Development of new techniques to search for particles beyond the standard model is crucial for understanding the ultraviolet completion of particle physics. Several hypothetical particles are predicted to mediate exotic spin-dependent interactions between standard-model particles that may be accessible to laboratory experiments. However, laboratory searches are mostly conducted for static spin-dependent interactions, with a few experiments addressing spin- and velocity-dependent interactions. Here, we demonstrate a search for these interactions with a spin-based amplifier. Our technique uses hyperpolarized nuclear spins as an amplifier for pseudo-magnetic fields produced by exotic interactions by a factor of more than 100. Using this technique, we establish constraints on the spin- and velocity-dependent interactions between polarized neutrons and unpolarized nucleons for the force range of 0.03 to 100 meters, improving previous constraints by at least two orders of magnitude in partial force range. This technique can be further extended to investigate other exotic spin-dependent interactions.

Experimental Constraint on an Exotic Parity-Odd Spin- and Velocity-Dependent Interaction with a Single Electron Spin Quantum Sensor

Improved laboratory limits on the exotic spin- and velocity-dependent interaction at the micrometer scale are established with a single electron spin quantum sensor. The single electron spin of a near-surface nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond is used as the quantum sensor, and a fused-silica half-sphere lens is taken as the source of the moving nucleons. The exotic interaction between the polarized electron and the moving nucleon source is explored by measuring the possible magnetic field sensed by the electron spin quantum sensor. Our experiment sets improved constraints on the exotic spin- and velocity-dependent interaction within the force range from 1.4 to 330  μm. The upper limit of the coupling g_{A}^{e}g_{V}^{N} at 200  μm is |g_{A}^{e}g_{V}^{N}|≤5.3×10^{-19}, significantly improving the current laboratory limit by more than 4 orders of magnitude.

Axion-mediated electron-electron interaction in ytterbium monohydroxide molecule

The YbOH triatomic molecule can be efficiently used to measure the electron electric dipole moment, which violates time-reversal (T) and spatial parity (P) symmetries of fundamental interactions [Kozyryev and Hutzler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 133002 (2017)]. We study another mechanism of the T, P-violation in the YbOH molecule-the electron-electron interaction mediated by the low-mass axionlike particle. For this, we calculate the molecular constant that characterizes this interaction and use it to estimate the expected magnitude of the effect to be measured. It is shown that this molecular constant has the same order of magnitude as the corresponding molecular constant corresponding to the axion-mediated electron-nucleus interaction. According to our estimation, an experiment on YbOH will allow one to set updated laboratory constraints on the CP-violating electron-axion coupling constants.

A new Collinear Apparatus for Laser Spectroscopy and Applied Science (COALA)

We present a new collinear laser spectroscopy setup that has been designed to overcome systematic uncertainty limits arising from high-voltage and frequency measurements, beam superposition, and collisions with residual gas that are present in other installations utilizing this technique. The applied methods and experimental realizations are described, including an active stabilization of the ion-source potential, new types of ion sources that have not been used for collinear laser spectroscopy so far, dedicated installations for pump-and-probe measurements, and a versatile laser system referenced to a frequency comb. The advanced setup enables us to routinely determine transition frequencies, which was so far demonstrated only for a few cases and with lower accuracy at other facilities. It has also been designed to perform accurate high-voltage measurements for metrological applications. Demonstration and performance measurements were carried out with Ca⁺ and In⁺ ions.

Probing Axions with Event Horizon Telescope Polarimetric Measurements

With high spatial resolution, polarimetric imaging of a supermassive black hole, like M87^{⋆} or Sgr A^{⋆}, by the Event Horizon Telescope can be used to probe the existence of ultralight bosonic particles, such as axions. Such particles can accumulate around a rotating black hole through the superradiance mechanism, forming an axion cloud. When linearly polarized photons are emitted from an accretion disk near the horizon, their position angles oscillate due to the birefringent effect when traveling through the axion background. In particular, the observations of supermassive black holes M87^{⋆} (Sgr A^{⋆}) can probe the dimensionless axion-photon coupling c=2πg_{aγ}f_{a} for axions with mass around O(10^{-20})  eV [O(10^{-17})  eV] and decay constant f_{a}<O(10^{16})  GeV, which is complimentary to other axion measurements.

Second-Scale Coherence Measured at the Quantum Projection Noise Limit with Hundreds of Molecular Ions

Cold molecules provide an excellent platform for quantum information, cold chemistry, and precision measurement. Certain molecules have enhanced sensitivity to beyond standard model physics, such as the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM). Molecular ions are easily trappable and are therefore particularly attractive for precision measurements where sensitivity scales with interrogation time. Here, we demonstrate a spin precession measurement with second-scale coherence at the quantum projection noise (QPN) limit with hundreds of trapped molecular ions, chosen for their sensitivity to the eEDM rather than their amenability to state control and readout. Orientation-resolved resonant photodissociation allows us to simultaneously measure two quantum states with opposite eEDM sensitivity, reaching the QPN limit and fully exploiting the high count rate and long coherence.

Sub-Doppler Cooling and Compressed Trapping of YO Molecules at μK Temperatures

Complex molecular structure demands customized solutions to laser cooling by extending its general set of principles and practices. Compared with other laser-cooled molecules, yttrium monoxide (YO) exhibits a large electron-nucleus interaction, resulting in a dominant hyperfine interaction over the electron spin-rotation coupling. The YO ground state is thus comprised of two manifolds of closely spaced states, with one of them possessing a negligible Landé g factor. This unique energy level structure favors dual-frequency dc magneto-optical trapping (MOT) and gray molasses cooling (GMC). We report exceptionally robust cooling of YO at 4 μK over a wide range of laser intensity, detunings (one- and two-photon), and magnetic field. The magnetic insensitivity enables the spatial compression of the molecular cloud by alternating GMC and MOT under the continuous operation of the quadrupole magnetic field. A combination of these techniques produces a laser-cooled molecular sample with the highest phase space density in free space.

Determination of the Scalar and Vector Polarizabilities of the Cesium 6s^{2}S_{1/2}→7s^{2}S_{1/2} Transition and Implications for Atomic Parity Nonconservation

Using recent high-precision measurements of electric dipole matrix elements of atomic cesium, we make an improved determination of the scalar (α) and vector (β) polarizabilities of the cesium 6s^{2}S_{1/2}→7s^{2}S_{1/2} transition calculated through a sum-over-states method. We report values of α=-268.82(30)a_{0}^{3} and β=27.139(42)a_{0}^{3} with the highest precision to date. We find a discrepancy between our value of β and the past preferred value, resulting in a significant shift in the value of the weak charge Q_{w} of the cesium nucleus. Future work to resolve the differences in the polarizability will be critical for interpretation of parity nonconservation measurements in cesium, which have implications for physics beyond the standard model.