Speaker
Description
The electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) is one of the most sensitive probes for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). While the SM predicts an almost vanishing eEDM, many beyond-SM theories anticipate values several orders of magnitude larger. Improving measurement sensitivity can therefore both provide a stringent test of the SM and help discriminate between competing beyond-SM theories. Here, we present our eEDM measurement platform using ultracold ytterbium fluoride (YbF) molecules trapped in an optical lattice. Our setup consists of a custom glass cell, electrodes, magnetic shielding, and the optical lattice that transports the YbF molecules from a trapping and cooling chamber to a science chamber, where spin precession takes place. Key design parameters, such as lattice laser powers and waists, and electric field uniformity, were determined through numerical simulations. We estimate the achievable eEDM sensitivity to be $\sim10^{-31}$ e cm with 1000 molecules detectable and 1 s coherence time, with shot-to-shot sensitivity of $\sim4.5\times10^{-28}$ e cm assuming 0.9 detection efficiency.