Measurement of the lifetimes of the $7p \: ^2P_{3/2}$ and $7p \: ^2P_{1/2}$ states of atomic cesium

We report measurements of the lifetimes of the $7p \: ^2P_{3/2}$ and $7p \: ^2P_{1/2}$ states of cesium, $^{133}$Cs. We collect the fluorescence from the spontaneous decay of atoms in the excited $7p \: ^2P_{3/2}$ and $7p \: ^2P_{1/2}$ states and employ a time-correlated single-photon counting technique to obtain the lifetimes of these states. We use these measurements with previous determinations of other electric dipole matrix elements of cesium to determine the $\langle 5d\,^2D_{5/2}||r|| 7p\,^2P_{3/2} \rangle$, $\langle 5d\,^2D_{3/2}||r|| 7p\,^2P_{3/2} \rangle$, and $\langle 5d\,^2D_{3/2}||r|| 7p\,^2P_{1/2} \rangle$ electric dipole matrix elements for cesium. The lifetimes and determined matrix elements provide a test of theoretical methods for calculating precise models of the electronic structure of cesium.