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arXiv · 1812.00064

Nuclear-Spin Dependent Parity Violation in Optically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules

Eric B. Norrgard·Daniel S. Barker·Stephen P. Eckel·James A. Fedchak·Nikoliai N. Klimov·Julia Scherschligt
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Abstract

We investigate using optically trapped linear polyatomic molecules as probes of nuclear spin-dependent parity violation. The presence of closely spaced, opposite-parity $\ell$-doublets is a general feature of such molecules, allowing parity-violation-sensitive pairs of levels to be brought to degeneracy in magnetic fields typically 100 times smaller than in diatomics. Assuming laser cooling and trapping of polyatomics at the current state-of-the-art for diatomics, we expect to measure nuclear spin-dependent parity-violating matrix elements $iW$ with 70 times better sensitivity than the current best measurements. Our scheme should allow for 10 \% measurements of $iW$ in nuclei as light as Be or as heavy as Yb, with averaging times on order the of 10 days and 1 second, respectively.

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Eric B. Norrgard, Daniel S. Barker, Stephen P. Eckel, James A. Fedchak, Nikoliai N. Klimov, Julia Scherschligt. 2018-11-30. Nuclear-Spin Dependent Parity Violation in Optically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42005-019-0181-1

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