Probing PeV-scale new physics using the electron electric dipole moment

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The bewildering excess of matter over antimatter in the universe is one of the biggest puzzles of our time. The proposed solutions to this puzzle require that fundamental time-reversal symmetry is violated to a much larger extent than is possible within the Standard Model of particle physics, suggesting that undiscovered new physics could be responsible for such a basic property of our universe. A powerful way to discover hints of new physics is to search with ultra-high precision for a permanent electric dipole moment of fundamental particles such as electrons. We are building an electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) search experiment that can improve upon the current best measurements by more than 4 orders of magnitude. ******Such a large leap in precision requires a radical new technique. In particular, compared to all other previous efforts, a much larger number of electrons need to be precisely measured. We have developed a new method to perform an eEDM search using a large ensemble of polar molecules trapped in a rare-gas crystal. Electrons in polar molecules experience extremely large electric fields due to the molecular structure. The lattice of the rare-gas crystal fixes the orientation and position of the molecules: trapping molecules in this way improves the measurement time (and therefore the precision) of the experiment, but also freezes molecular motion and removes the need for an externally applied electric field, thereby eliminating many classes of potential systematic errors. An ensemble of oriented molecules in a rare-gas solid is also naturally equipped with excellent co-magnetometers to suppress errors from magnetic field fluctuations, enabling a high-precision eEDM experiment. All of these features result in an eEDM experiment with new physics sensitivity up to extremely high energy scales. This experiment will be performed by the EDMCubed Collaboration (University of Toronto, York University, Michigan State University) using an apparatus located at York University.******Precision eEDM measurements are a model-independent and vitally important complement to collider experiments for discovering new physics. This is the first Canadian effort of its kind, and we aim to achieve a level of sensitivity to new physics that is many orders of magnitude beyond any other current or proposed experiment. This experiment will place the Canadian subatomic physics community in a world leading position at the precision frontier of high energy physics, and train a new generation of subatomic physicists.