We work in the field of experimental Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics. One major effort involves leveraging the techniques of precision metrology to look for evidence of new particle physics. A second effort makes use of ultralow temperature atomic gases to explore few- and many-body quantum physics.
The purpose of this experiment is to make a precision measurement of the electic dipole moment (EDM) of the electron. Because a finite electron EDM violates time symmetry, and thus by the CPT theorem violates CP symmetry as well, a precision upper bound on an electron EDM constrains modelbuilders. In this experiment we use trapped HfF+ molecular ions and use the intermolecular electric field to greatly enhance a potential electron EDM signal.
