Nature has intrinsic handedness because of the weak interaction, but the difference between the left- and right-handed cases is barely discernible in atomic and nuclear interactions. Understanding its strength in nuclei is possible through measurements that require francium atoms so cold that they barely move. They show the effects of the handedness, from the anapole moment, when they are set to oscillate, and their frequency of oscillation changes with the handedness. The researchers will study the weak interaction, the force responsible for the beginning of the solar cycle, inside the francium nucleus. The atoms, made in the accelerator at TRIUMF Vancouver Canada, will be held on a laser trap, excited with microwaves and generate signals that show the handedness of nature.
This international effort, with active participants from the USA, Canada, and Mexico, as well as Australia and China, is an example of multinational collaboration that is enabling investigations at the frontier of physics. The research will allow US graduate and undergraduate students to obtain valuable global perspectives in science, and be educated in the boundary between atomic molecular and optical physics and nuclear physics. In addition, undergraduates from Mexico, through a program with the Sociedad Mexicana de Fisica, will participate in the summer at TRIUMF. The recently commissioned Francium Trapping Facility at TRIUMF is available for visits by the general public.
