Testing Fundamental Physics with Cold Atoms and Molecules

Hamburg Photon Science Colloquium

  • Date: Jul 1, 2016
  • Time: 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Edward A. Hinds
  • Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  • Location: CFEL (Bldg. 99)
  • Room: Seminar Room I-III, EG.076-080
  • Host: CFEL, CUI, DESY, European XFEL, HZG, MPSD, SFB 925, UHH
Cold and ultracold molecules provide a sensitive way to search for new physics, e.g. variation of fundamental constants, dark energy, or new elementary particles. I will describe some of these ideas, with particular emphasis on the search for a permanent electric dipole moment of the electron, which already provides a strong constraint on possible supersymmetric theories of particle physics. Laser cooling can now be applied to molecules. I will discuss the recent advances in that area and the extraordinary sensitivity that this new approach can bring to tests of fundamental physics.
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