RUI: New Molecular Systems for Precision Tests of T-Violation using Ultracold Molecules

About This Grant

Molecules containing heavy metals are extremely important in science and industry, with applications spanning materials development to fundamental understanding of physics. This project aims to identify molecules that can be used to study one of the most basic mysteries about our universe: why it is composed of matter, rather than anti-matter. In particular, the PI and undergraduate students will use lasers to study the wavelengths of light absorbed by molecules containing copper, silver, and gold. They will then use state-of-the-art models to connect these measurements to information about fundamental particle physics. The work in this laboratory involves building laser and optical systems, designing electronics, and using specialized software to collect and analyze data. This work is located at a primarily undergraduate institution (Williams College) where students can become research partners from very early on in their education. Undergraduate students will have the opportunity to contribute to the experimental work, building skills for academia and industry. Students will collaborate on presentations at conferences and journal publications. These students often go on to graduate school in physics, chemistry, engineering, or related fields. This research program will study molecules that can be prepared at ultracold temperatures for next-generation precision measurements of fundamental symmetry violation. Over the past several decades, precision spectroscopy of molecules has led to some of the strongest tests of theories of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. Demand for molecules that enable increasingly sensitive measurements of fundamental symmetry violation has grown as these tests continue to search for “new” physics at ever-higher energy scales. The PI and undergraduate students will apply the tools of optical control to new molecules that are poised to advance these questions by searching for symmetry-violating effects like the electron’s electric dipole moment and/or nuclear Schiff moments. A special focus will be placed on molecules containing coinage-metal atoms (copper, silver, and gold) bonded to lead atoms. These molecules appear especially promising because they appear to be extremely sensitive to the electron EDM, can be prepared and detected using laser light, and are relatively insensitive to external magnetic field fluctuations that often limit experimental precision. The PI and students will analyze the electronic, vibrational, rotational, and hyperfine (nuclear spin) structure of these molecules; identify methods to form the molecules at ultracold temperatures; and demonstrate laser-based control of the motion and quantum states of the molecules. Along the way, the PI and students will search for other metal-containing molecules that can be controlled with laser light, a long-standing goal for quantum information science more broadly. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.