Development of Atomic Theory for Tests of Fundamental Symmetries

University Of Delaware, Newark DE

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate how atoms can be used to test our understanding of the fundamental laws of nature, i.e. our understanding of elementary particles and their interactions. While one can search for new particles directly with large collider facilities, it is also possible to test the effects that new particles could have on processes occurring in atoms and molecules. Such experiments require very high precision and a very good understanding of the systems that are being studied. Moreover, certain atoms and molecules might be much better suited to the studies of fundamental interactions owing to their having properties that enhance desired effects. This project will investigate which systems are the best for future studies of this kind. The experimental work in this field also requires theoretical analysis of the experiments, and this work will provide such analysis and will develop methods to improve the accuracy further. This research is at the interface of atomic physics with high-energy physics, nuclear physics, quantum chemistry, and cosmology. While the main goal of this project is to study fundamental symmetries, the methodologies described in this project are applicable to the development of atomic clocks, laser cooling and trapping, study of super-heavy elements, production and control of ultracold molecules, study of degenerate quantum gases, astrophysics, plasma physics, and nuclear physics. Graduate students will be directly involved in the forefront research under this grant and will present the research at the scientific meetings. The main objective of this research is to develop theoretical methods to advance fundamental symmetry tests with atomic and molecular systems in the search of new physics beyond the Standard Model. This project is focused on the study of parity violation and the search for a permanent electric-dipole moment (EDM). The group will develop theoretical methods that will allow identification of the best systems for the next generation of experiments and provide calculations that are crucial for the analysis of current and past experiments. Specific efforts include: (1) introduce the Sturm basis sets and test the performance of all the group?s existing methods using more compact and regular Sturmian basis set functions; (2) develop an accurate method to evaluate contributions of highly-excited states in the sum-over-state approach in order to resolve present problems with the analysis of the most precise parity non-conservation (PNC) study in Cesium; (3) develop a next-generation Configuration Interaction+all-order code for accurate calculations of PNC amplitudes relevant to current experimental research; (4) explore the addition of the effective Hamiltonian to the molecular configuration interaction (CI) code for the study of diatomic molecules.