Graduate Student Symposium

"Precision measurements in AMO Physics"

Monday, June 13, 2011
8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Atlanta Marquis Marquis
Room A704

DAMOP will again offer a graduate student symposium in conjunction with the DAMOP Meeting. While aimed primarily at graduate students, the symposium is open to all students and post-docs.

Cost: $50
Fee includes presentations, lunch, and refreshments.

Registration

Registration Deadline: Friday, May 13
There is no on-site registration.
You must register for the Graduate Symposium online when you register for the DAMOP Meeting.
  Register Now

Symposium Agenda

Speaker I

Particles and Fundamental Symmetries Studied at Low Energies
9:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Gerald Gabrielse,
Harvard University

Experiments at atomic energies, using the methods of atomic, molecular and optical physics, can provide some information and insight into particles and fundamental symmetries that complements what can be learned in high energy collisions. Three examples with be discussed. First, the electron magnetic moment in Bohr magnetons has been measured to a precision of 3 parts in 1013. using a one-electron quantum cyclotron. This measurement, with quantum electrodynamics (AED) theory, provides the most precise value of the fine structure constant. This measurement, with a value of the fine structure from other measurements, tests QED and sets a limit on the internal structure of the electron. A second example, is the production and trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms with the goal of allowing precise comparison of antihydrogen and hydrogen structure using microwave and laser spectroscopy. A third example is the use of heavy polar molecules to see if the electron has the electric dipole moment predicted by various proposed extensions to the standard model of particle physics.

Speaker II

Atom Interferometer Experiments in Fundamental Physics
10:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Holger Mueller,
University of California, Berkeley

Atom interferometers (AIs) measure gravity and accelerations, the Sagnac effect, the fine structure constant, and other fundamental constant with great resolution and precision. They have performed tests of the theories of quantum electrodynamics and of general relativity with outstanding accuracy. New experiments use large momentum transfer beam splitters and simultaneous AIs, which allow large enclosed areas between the interferometer arms and common-mode rejection of noise and systematic errors. Other innovations, like spin squeezing, are around the corner.

We will discuss the operation and application of AIs, recent advances, and their application to fundamental measurements. In particular, we will show that the phase difference between the wave packets in any AI is exactly equal to the phase difference between any two clocks that follow the same paths, ticking at the atom's Compton frequency, proving that atoms are clocks. This allows for some of the most precise tests of general relativity. In the future, it may enable laboratory measurements of nonlinearities of the theory which are known to exist from the perihelion precession in the solar system but have never been confirmed by direct laboratory measurement.

Speaker III

Atomic Parity Violation 
1:15 p.m. -  2:30 p.m.
Derek Kimball,
California State University, East Bay

Experimental measurements of parity violation in atoms and
molecules are reviewed, ranging from early experiments which were
among the first to confirm the existence of the neutral weak
interaction predicted by the Standard Model to recent and continuing
efforts by several groups to test the Standard Model in the
low-momentum transfer regime, measure nuclear anapole moments, and
study parity-violation across a chain of isotopes. The enhancement of
parity-violating effects in heavy atoms, origin of the nuclear anapole
moment, estimates of parity-violating effects in atoms and molecules,
and details of the optical rotation and Stark-interference methods are
discussed. Implications of parity violation experiments for particle
and nuclear physics are considered.

Speaker IV

Exploring TeV-scale physics (and beyond) via time-reversal violation in atoms and molecules
2:30 p.m. -  3:45 p.m.
David DeMille,
Yale University

Violation of time-reversal (T) invariance is required to explain the fact that the universe does not contain equal amounts of matter and antimatter. The Standard Model (SM) of particle physics includes T-violation, but at a level too small to explain the observed excess of ordinary matter, the "baryon asymmetry". In theoretical extensions to the SM, new sources of T-violation that can explain the baryon asymmetry are ubiquitous. These same theories frequently predict T-violating permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) of elementary particles, of a size accessible to experiments now underway in the AMO community. This talk will outline the underlying theory, describe the experimental principles of EDM experiments, and review some of the recent progress and ongoing work in the field.