The project will focus on tests of fundamental symmetries using spin-polarized atoms. A co-magnetometer using K, Rb and Ne-21 atoms will be developed to search for violations of CPT and Lorentz symmetries. Using Ne-21 atoms with a nuclear spin of 3/2 will allow searches for anomalous interactions that preserve CPT but violate Lorentz symmetry. Very high energy resolution of the co-magnetometer will also allow searches for anomalous spin-spin and spin-mass forces, placing new constraints on axions and other proposed light particles. It is anticipated that the experimental sensitivity in many cases will be limited by quantum fluctuations and a separate set of experiments will be conducted to understand these limits in dense alkali-metal vapors.
Successful completion of these experiments will result in new constraints on a number of proposed theories seeking to explain dark matter and dark energy in the Universe and to develop a fully quantum-mechanical theory of gravity. It will also result in development of new measurement techniques for magnetic fields and inertial rotation, with possible applications beyond physics. In particular, detection of individual single-domain nano-particles at low concentrations will enable new single molecule counting experiments in biology. A number if graduate, undergraduate and high-school students will be trained in various research techniques, ranging from construction of ultra-low noise electronics to interpretation of atomic measurements in the context of particle physics.
