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arXiv:2411.00441 · Physical Review A

Prospects for measuring the electron's electric dipole moment with polyatomic molecules in an optical lattice

Roman Bause, Nithesh Balasubramanian, Ties H. Fikkers, Eifion H. Prinsen, Kees Steinebach, Arian Jadbabaie, Nicholas R. Hutzler, I. Agustín Aucar, Lukáš Félix Pašteka, Anastasia Borschevsky, Steven Hoekstra

Published Jun 3, 2025• 12 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present the conceptual design of an experiment to measure the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM) using $^{138}$BaOH molecules in an optical lattice. The BaOH molecule is laser-coolable and highly sensitive to the eEDM, making it an attractive candidate for such a precision measurement, and capturing it in an optical lattice offers potentially very long coherence times. We study possibilities and limitations of this approach, identify the most crucial limiting factors and ways to overcome them. The proposed apparatus can reach a statistical error of $10^{-30}\,e\,$cm by measuring spin precession on a total number of $5 \times 10^9$ molecules over a span of 120 days.

DOI
10.1103/8ltl-7wsb

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Abstract Measurements of the electron’s electric dipole moment (eEDM) are demanding tests of physics beyond the standard model. We describe how ultracold YbF molecules could be used to improve the precision of eEDM measurements by two to three orders of magnitude. Using numerical simulations, we show how the combination of magnetic focussing, two-dimensional transverse laser cooling, and frequency-chirped laser slowing, can produce an intense, slow, highly-collimated molecular beam. We show how to make a magneto-optical trap of YbF molecules and how the molecules could be loaded into an optical lattice. eEDM measurements could be made using the slow molecular beam or using molecules trapped in the lattice. We estimate the statistical sensitivity that could be reached in each case and consider how sources of noise can be reduced so that the shot-noise limit of sensitivity can be reached. We also consider systematic effects due to magnetic fields and vector light shifts and how they could be controlled.
Abstract The electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) can be measured with high precision using heavy polar molecules. In this paper, we report on a series of new techniques that have improved the statistical sensitivity of the YbF eEDM experiment. We increase the number of molecules participating in the experiment by an order of magnitude using a carefully designed optical pumping scheme. We also increase the detection efficiency of these molecules by another order of magnitude using an optical cycling scheme. In addition, we show how to destabilise dark states and reduce backgrounds that otherwise limit the efficiency of these techniques. Together, these improvements allow us to demonstrate a statistical sensitivity of 1.8 × 10−28 e cm after one day of measurement, which is 1.2 times the shot-noise limit. The techniques presented here are applicable to other high-precision measurements using molecules.
Ultracold polyatomic molecules are promising candidates for experiments in quantum science and precision searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. A key requirement is the ability to achieve full quantum control over the internal structure of the molecules. In this work, we established coherent control of individual quantum states in calcium monohydroxide (CaOH) and demonstrated a method for searching for the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM). Optically trapped, ultracold CaOH molecules were prepared in a single quantum state, polarized in an electric field, and coherently transferred into an eEDM-sensitive state where an electron spin precession measurement was performed. To extend the coherence time, we used eEDM-sensitive states with tunable, near-zero magnetic field sensitivity. Our results establish a path for eEDM searches with trapped polyatomic molecules.
Heavy polar molecules can be used to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, which is a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. The value is determined by measuring the precession of the molecule's spin in a plane perpendicular to an applied electric field. The longer this precession evolves coherently, the higher the precision of the measurement. For molecules in a trap, this coherence time could be very long indeed. We evaluate the sensitivity of an experiment where neutral molecules are trapped electrically, and compare this to an equivalent measurement in a molecular beam. We consider the use of a Stark decelerator to load the trap from a supersonic source, and calculate the deceleration efficiency for YbF molecules in both strong-field seeking and weak-field seeking states. With a 1 s holding time in the trap, the statistical sensitivity could be ten times higher than it is in the beam experiment, and this could improve by a further factor of five if the trap can be loaded from a source of larger emittance. We study some effects due to field inhomogeneity in the trap and find that rotation of the electric field direction, leading to an inhomogeneous geometric phase shift, is the primary obstacle to a sensitive trap-based measurement.
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