Thursday, February 21, 2019, 16:00
WHGA Auditorium
Simon Stellmer, Bonn University
Abstract:
Why does the Universe contain so much more matter than antimatter? This
is certainly one of the most pressing questions in fundamental physics,
and it leads us, via the concept of CP violation, to the formidable
challenge of measuring the notoriously small electric dipole moment
(EDM) of various particles.
One of the most sensitive experiments to date was performed with room-temperature vapors of mercury, but this approach has reached its experimental limitations. By going from the classical to the quantum world, we aim to improve the sensitivity substantially. We use laser cooling and trapping techniques to place billions of mercury atoms at a temperature of 10 µK into the 100 µm gap of a high-voltage capacitor. Schemes from quantum information, might allow us to boost the sensitivity to an atomic EDM even further.
The experiment is currently in the design phase, and I will report on
the current status.