Progress Towards the Measurement of Schiff Moment in <sup>205</sup>TlF in CeNTREX

ORAL

Abstract

The Cold Molecule Nuclear Time-Reversal EXperiment (CeNTREX) aims to investigate time-reversal (T) symmetry violation in the hadronic sector. Assuming CPT symmetry, any T violation implies a corresponding violation of charge-conjugation-parity (CP) symmetry, which is a crucial ingredient in understanding the matter-antimatter asymmetry observed in the universe. One possible manifestation of T violation is a nuclear Schiff moment in 205Tl, whose energy shift is significantly amplified in the polar molecule 205TlF compared to atoms. CeNTREX employs a cryogenic beam of 205TlF molecules. To maximize sensitivity, the molecules are optically pumped into a single hyperfine level (F=0) of the rotational ground state (J=0). Through adiabatic passage, the population is transferred to the weak-field–seeking J=2 state, allowing focusing with an electrostatic quadrupole lens to collimate the expanding molecular beam. A non-zero Schiff moment induces a phase shift in the presence of an external electric field. This phase shift is mapped onto two rotational manifolds (J=1 and J=2) and read out simultaneously by rapidly switching between two fluorescence-inducing lasers. This talk will present progress on the experiment, with a particular focus on electrostatic focusing and detection.

*This work is funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation, a NIST Precision Measurement Grant, NSF-MRI grants PHY1827906, PHY-1827964, and PHY-1828097, NSF grant PHY-2110420, and the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under contract number DEAC02-06CH11357 and grant number DE-SC0024667.

Publication: arXiv:2501.05578v1 [physics.atom-ph] 09 Jan 2025

Presenters

  • Jianhui Li

    • Columbia University

Authors

  • Jianhui Li

    • Columbia University
  • David P DeMille

    • Johns Hopkins University
    • Argonne National Lab, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago
    • University of Chicago
    • Argonne National Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, University of Chicago
  • Olivier Grasdijk

    • Argonne National Lab
    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • David M Kawall

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Emma McClure

    • University of Chicago
    • university of chicago
  • Tristan Winick

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst
  • Junlin Wu

    • University of Massachusetts Amherst
    • University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Yuanhang Yang

    • University of Chicago
  • Tanya Zelevinsky

    • Columbia University
  • Pengyu Zhou

    • Columbia University