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Quantum Science and Technology

Quantum sensing of the electron electric dipole moment using ultracold entangled Fr atoms

T. Aoki, R Sreekantham, B. K. Sahoo, Bindiya Arora, Anders Kastberg, Takumi Sato, Hayato Ikeda, Naohiro Okamoto, Yoshio Torii, T. Hayamizu, Keisuke Nakamura, Shintaro Nagase, Miki Ohtsuka, Hiroki Nagahama, Naoya Ozawa, M Sato, Teruhito Nakashita, Kazeki Yamane, Kazuo S. Tanaka, K. Harada, Hirokazu Kawamura, T. Inoue, Aiko Uchiyama, A. Hatakeyama, A. Takamine, H. Ueno, Yuichi Ichikawa, Y. Matsuda, Hiromitsu Haba, Y. Sakemi

Published Sep 10, 2021• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We propose a method to measure the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) using ultracold entangled francium (Fr) atoms trapped in an optical lattice, yielding an uncertainty below the standard quantum limit. Among the alkali atoms, Fr offers the largest enhancement factor to the eEDM. With a Fr based experiment, quantum sensing using quantum entangled states could enable a search for the eEDM at a level below 10−30 ecm. We estimate statistical and systematic errors attached to the proposed measurement scheme based on this quantum sensing technique. A successful quantum sensing of the eEDM could enable the exploration of new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics.

DOI
10.1088/2058-9565/ac1b6a

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•Jan 29, 2016•1 citation
Abstract We propose a method to measure the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) using ultracold entangled francium (Fr) atoms trapped in an optical lattice, yielding an uncertainty below the standard quantum limit. Among the alkali atoms, Fr offers the largest enhancement factor to the eEDM. With a Fr based experiment, quantum sensing using quantum entangled states could enable a search for the eEDM at a level below 10−30 ecm. We estimate statistical and systematic errors attached to the proposed measurement scheme based on this quantum sensing technique. A successful quantum sensing of the eEDM could enable the exploration of new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics.
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.
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.
We present the conceptual design of an experiment to measure the electron's electric dipole moment (eEDM) using 138^{138}138BaOH 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 10^{-30}\,e\,10−30ecm by measuring spin precession on a total number of 5×1095 \times 10^95×109 molecules over a span of 120 days.
Abstract Over the past century, the molecular beam methods pioneered by Otto Stern have advanced our knowledge and understanding of the world enormously. Stern and his colleagues used these new techniques to measure the magnetic dipole moments of fundamental particles with results that challenged the prevailing ideas in fundamental physics at that time. Similarly, recent measurements of fundamental electric dipole moments challenge our present day theories of what lies beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Measurements of the electron’s electric dipole moment (eEDM) rely on the techniques invented by Stern and later developed by Rabi and Ramsey. We give a brief review of this historical development and the current status of eEDM measurements. These experiments, and many others, are likely to benefit from ultracold molecules produced by laser cooling. We explain how laser cooling can be applied to molecules, review recent progress in this field, and outline some eagerly anticipated applications.
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.
In this thesis, the basic principles of the C, P, T symmetries are introduced and the experiments to measure the electric dipole moment (EDM) are summarized. We propose an experiment to search for the electric dipole moment of the electron using Cs and Rb atoms in 1D optical lattice traps. Our projected sensitivity is 3iN10-30 e-cm with an integration time of 12 hours, which is a 500-fold improvement over the current limit. The potential sources of noise and systematic errors in our designed experiment are analyzed. The preliminary test results for charging small ITO coated electric field plates are given, and the designs of a magnetic shielding system and cancellation coils are also described. We trapped the Cs and Rb atoms in the MOT, and launched Cs atoms up 90 cm from the MOT to the center of the measurement chamber while guided by a resonator enhanced 1D optical lattice trap with transport efficiency up to 50%. The 1064 nm wavelength optical lattice is made in a 2 m long build-up cavity of light, and provides a transverse guide depth of up to 250 ƒÝK. Before they reach the top of their trajectory, the atoms are stopped and cooled by optical molasses, becoming trapped in the 1D lattice. We also demonstrate multiple launches of Cs atoms to the trap.