The U.S.-India Cooperative Research: Test of Fundamental Symmetries, Theory and Precision Spectroscopy with Complex Atoms is concerned with topics at the cutting edge of fundamental atomic physics. Professor Dmitry Bunker's group at the University of California, Berkeley and Indian theorists at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (Dr. Bhanu Das), Bangalore and the Physical Research Laboratory (Dr. Angom Singh), Ahmedabad will carry out the experiments, which promise to yield new and important results in discrete symmetry violations and precision spectroscopy of complex atoms. The combined results of experiment and theory for parity nonconservation in atomic ytterbium have the potential to test the Standard Model of particle physics and shed light on parity nonconserving nuclear forces.
Scope: The Bangalore and Ahmedabad groups in India and Professor Budkar's group at Berkeley have a unique combination of expertise and experience in various aspects of modern atomic physics, particularly ones related to tests of fundamental symmetries in atoms. Direct collaboration of Berkeley experimentalists with Indian theorists will be of great benefit to both groups. A further important aspect of this project is the direct involvement of graduate and undergraduate students at all three institutions. In addition, to student benefit through participation in the experiments, this award provides support for two Berkeley students to conduct research at the participating foreign institutions in India.
