Abstract
Permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) arise due to the breaking of time-reversal or, equivalently, CP-symmetry. Although EDM searches have so far only set upper limits, which are many orders of magnitude larger than Standard Model (SM) predictions, the motivation for more sensitive searches is stronger than ever. A new effort at FRM-II incorporating 129Xe and 3He as a co-magnetometer can potentially improve the current limit. The noble gas mixture of 129Xe and 3He is simultanously polarized by spin-exchange optical pumping and then transferred into a high-performance magnetically shielded room. Inside, both species can freely precess in the presence of applied magnetic and electric fields. The precession signals are detected by LTc SQUID sensors. In EDM cells with silicon electrodes we observed spin lifetimes in excess of 2500 s without and with high-voltage applied. This meets one requirement to achieve our goal of improving the EDM limit on 129Xe by several orders of magnitude.
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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Symmetries in Subatomic Physics (SSP 2015), Victoria, Canada, 8–12 June 2015
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Kuchler, F., Babcock, E., Burghoff, M. et al. A new search for the atomic EDM of 129Xe at FRM-II. Hyperfine Interact 237, 95 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-016-1302-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-016-1302-9