Speaker
Description
Probing electroweak physics at low energies plays an important role in the search for physics beyond the Standard Model. The exchange of Z bosons between an atom’s electrons and quarks induce an incredibly small atomic transition which can be probed via an atomic parity-violation (APV) experiment. APV measurements are sensitive as searches for leptoquarks and additional neutral gauge bosons and provide complementary results to higher-energy experiments. APV effects scales with the proton number ~Z^3. The extraction of electroweak physics from the observed signal requires atomic theory which is currently only available for alkali configurations. This makes neutral francium an ideal candidate for such experiments. Our goal is to measure APV effects using 10^6-10^7 laser-trapped neutral francium atoms at ultra cold temperatures. To this end , we have established an online neutral atom trap at the ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF in Vancouver. In this talk, I will discuss our progress towards an APV experiment in francium with a look at our recent observation of the highly forbidden 7s-8s magnetic dipole transition and our new detection scheme, bringing the observation of APV into reach.
Funding supported by NSERC and TRIUMF via NRC, and the Universities of Manitoba and Maryland.
| Keyword-1 | Atomic parity-violation |
|---|---|
| Keyword-2 | Neutral atom trapping |
