Project description
A novel class of ultracold molecules could aid search of the origin of matter asymmetry
Why the universe exists as we know it, dominated by matter rather than antimatter, challenges our understanding of physics. To explain this imbalance, scientists look for signs of a broken symmetry in nature, known as CP violation. One way to detect CP violation is by searching for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) – a tiny distortion in the shape of a particle’s charge distribution. The ERC-funded COMPASS project aims to create the first ultracold gas of EDM-sensitive molecules, assembled from chromium and ytterbium atoms. These molecules can be produced in large quantities, offer long interrogation times and present strong internal electric fields, which renders them highly sensitive to detecting the electron EDM.
Objective
The asymmetry between ordinary matter and antimatter represents one of the great mysteries in modern physics. Proposed baryogenesis scenarios require the symmetry under the combined action of charge conjugation (C) and parity (P) to be violated, at a level which is incompatible with the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. The detection of an electric dipole moment (EDM) of a non-degenerate system would directly signal CP violation beyond the SM and constitute a background free signal of new physics. The current limit on the electron EDM (eEDM) is set by atomic and molecular optics experiments exploiting the extremely high internal electric field and unpaired electrons inside polar paramagnetic molecules. Remarkably, such low energy experiments, thanks to high precision spectroscopy methods, probe mass ranges of proposed CP-violating particles well beyond the direct reach of particle colliders. Molecules at ultracold temperatures are expected to provide more advanced quantum control, leading to several orders of magnitude gain in the eEDM sensitivity. However, the strategy to get there is yet unclear.
In COMPASS, I will respond to this need and realize the first ultracold gas of eEDM-sensitive molecules, assembled from pre-cooled transition-metal chromium and closed-shell ytterbium atoms. This specific combination, overlooked thus far, provides an exceptional and timely opportunity to produce large samples of long-lived molecules with large internal electric field (15GV/cm) and high-polarizability to gain an order of magnitude in eEDM sensitivity via standard spin-precession measurements. Moreover, YbCr are amenable to engineering of clock transitions, and entanglement-enhanced quantum metrology, decoupling them from external electromagnetic field noise. Finally, COMPASS will pave the way to the realization of a whole new class of isovalent species for semi-leptonic, and even hadronic CP violation searches.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- natural sciences physical sciences theoretical physics particle physics particle accelerator
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry transition metals
- natural sciences physical sciences molecular and chemical physics
- natural sciences physical sciences condensed matter physics quantum gases
- natural sciences physical sciences optics spectroscopy
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2025-STG
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10135 Torino
Italy
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