Measuring the electron's electric dipole moment using ultracold molecules

Project Information

UltracoldEDM

Grant agreement ID: 101018992

DOI

10.3030/101018992

Project terminated on 22 April 2022

EC signature date 17 March 2021

Start date 14 May 2021

End date 13 May 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 224 933,76

EU contribution

€ 224 933,76

Coordinated by

IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - UltracoldEDM (Measuring the electron's electric dipole moment using ultracold molecules)

Reporting period: 2021-05-14 to 2023-05-13

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The observed imbalance between matter and anti-matter throughout the Universe could not be understood in the current framework of physics. This implies that there must be undiscovered physics that contains new particles and interactions. However, no new particles have been detected in the particle colliders. Another complementary way to test new physics is to measure the influence of the hypothetical particles on the properties of existing particles, for example, measuring the roundness of the electron. We aim at laser cooling and trapping heavy polar molecules and using the strong internal electric field of the molecules to precisely measure how round the electron is. This will shed light on the force that shaped the early Universe. In addition, the laser cooling techniques we develop will also advance the applications of ultracold molecules, including tests of fundamental physics, quantum simulation and quantum computation.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the period of this project, we have constructed and tested most parts of the instrument that will be used for the measurement the roundness of the electron. We have proposed and numerically simulated a scheme for the measurement. We have understood a problem of the molecule structure that limits laser cooling of the molecules.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Our work on molecule structure will enable deep laser cooling of heavy molecules that are important for testing of fundamental physics. Our experimental setup will be used to measure the roundness of the electron 10 or 100 times better than the state of the art, which will probe new physics to an energy scale much higher than any conceivable particle colliders.

The proposed experimental setup