The level of Charge-Parity violation observed in the decay of mesons, and incorporated into the Standard Model, cannot explain the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the Universe, indicating that the Standard Model might not be the final answer. One place in which to search for physics beyond the Standard Model is to look for a system with a non-zero permanent electric dipole moment (EDM). This experimental research program will do this by taking advantage of the remarkable insensitivity of the lead flouride (PbF) molecule to magnetic fields to improve the limit on the electrons electric dipole moment by one order of magnitude over current existing measurements. To carry out the experiment a PbF molecular beam source recently constructed using University of Oklahoma Research Council funds will be used in an optical resonance experiment. The broader impact of the program involves graduate education as well as involvement in a broader collaboration on the electron EDM led by the Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Many of us take advantage of the global positioning system as we use personal navigation systems. It is a little known fact that this system is based on precision timing made possible with the separated oscillator atomic clock. This system was inspired in 1950's by Physicist Norman Ramsey's desire to search for a never before observed property of the electron called its electric dipole moment. Although his technique of the separated oscillator atomic clock led to a Nobel Prize and serves as the rock-bed of the global positioning system, the search for the electron's electric dipole moment is still ongoing. This project is part of this search. Measurement of this dipole moment is of critical importance to theories of Physics that attempt to explain why the anti-matter and matter in the early Universe did not destroy each other at the beginning of our Universe. The electron electric dipole moment gives a scale to the size of the electron. Specifically, it is the size at which electric field lines do not appear to emanate radially from the center of the electron. By this measure, the electron has already been shown to be incredibly small; the ratio of the size of a proton to a baseball is actually bigger than the current limit of the ratio of the size of the electron to a proton! Continuing efforts started by this research project will allow us to create an even more stringent limit in the near future To push this limit, we look for hints to the electron size in the spectroscopy of the PbF molecule. In order to look with enough precision, we have developed a new detection technique that allow us to observe the molecule with an unprecedented combination of sensitivity an accuracy. This new technique has widespread applications and could influence not only other scientific pursuits, but also the detection of airborne pollutants and trace quantities of explosives.
