ACME: Advanced Cold Molecule Electron Electric Dipole Moment Search

ACME：高级冷分子电子电偶极矩搜索

• 批准号: 0855575
• 负责人: David DeMille
• 金额: $ 621.72万
• 依托单位: Yale University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-10-01 至 2014-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0855575&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: ACME; Advanced; Cold; Molecule; Electron

The Advanced Cold Molecule Electric Dipole Moment Search (ACME) is a new collaborative effort to detect the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron. The most fundamental of physics theories, the Standard Model of particle physics, predicts an extremely small electron EDM, while essentially all proposed extensions to the Standard Model predict an electron EDM that is within the projected sensitivity for this experiment. The ThO molecule that ACME will use provides in one species all of the advantages identified by past molecular EDM studies, with the added benefit of a higher internal electric field which will further increase the sensitivity of the experiment. Moreover, the prototype ThO molecular beam source that ACME is developing, using laser ablation and cryogenic buffer gas cooling, already demonstrates the possibility of a usable flux of molecules that is a thousand times that of previous experiments. The initial ACME goal is to measure the electron EDM with a sensitivity that greatly exceeds the current limit. Many students and postdocs will learn their craft working on this experiment, and many of the techniques developed will have general application to precision measurements. There will be a broad impact on physics, whatever the ACME result. The lack of an electron EDM at the attainable precision would eliminate the most studied and motivated extensions to the Standard Model. The discovery of an electron EDM would be one of the great breakthroughs in physics, signifying the long anticipated breakdown of the Standard Model of particle physics, and heralding a new understanding of the imbalance between antimatter and matter in the universe

高级冷分子电偶极矩搜索（ACME）是一项新的合作努力，旨在探测电子的电偶极矩（EDM）。最基本的物理学理论，粒子物理学的标准模型，预测了一个非常小的电子EDM，而基本上所有对标准模型的扩展都预测了一个电子EDM，该EDM在该实验的预计灵敏度范围内。ACME将使用的ThO分子在一个物种中提供了过去分子EDM研究所确定的所有优点，并具有更高的内部电场的额外好处，这将进一步提高实验的灵敏度。此外，ACME正在开发的原型ThO分子束源，使用激光烧蚀和低温缓冲气体冷却，已经证明了分子可用通量是以前实验的一千倍的可能性。最初的ACME目标是测量灵敏度大大超过电流限制的电子EDM。许多学生和博士后将在这个实验中学习他们的手艺，开发的许多技术将普遍应用于精密测量。无论ACME的结果如何，都会对物理学产生广泛的影响。缺乏电子EDM在可达到的精度将消除最研究和动机的扩展标准模型。电子EDM的发现将是物理学的重大突破之一，标志着人们期待已久的粒子物理学标准模型的崩溃，并预示着对宇宙中反物质和物质之间不平衡的新认识。