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Testing Fundamental Symmetries with Trapped Atoms

Add Event to your Calendar Wed., Mar. 6, 2019 4:00 p.m. - Wed., Mar. 6, 2019 5:00 p.m.

Location: CL 418

Abstract:  Atom and ion trapping and cooling techniques, in conjunction with rapidly advancing laser and microwave technology, not only revolutionized atomic physics, but also have a significant impact on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model at very low energies. I will briefly introduce some experiments at the intersection of atomic, nuclear and particle physics that use these methods to search for time-reversal violation and other 'new physics'. I will present our current efforts towards an atomic parity (mirror symmetry) violation measurement under development at the ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics in Vancouver. We are using the heaviest alkali, francium, which has no stable isotope and is the least stable of the first 103 elements. This poses considerable experimental challenges.

Speaker: Dr. Gerald Gwinner, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manitoba