Related papers: Linear Stark Shifts to Measure the Fr Weak Nuclear…
Rydberg atoms have been used for measuring radio-frequency (RF) electric (E)-fields due to their strong dipole moments over the frequency range of 500 MHz-1 THz. For this, electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) within the…
We explore the potential of precision spectroscopy of heavy exotic atoms where electrons are substituted by negative hadrons to detect new force carriers with hadronic couplings. The selected transitions are unaffected by nuclear contact…
A measurement of the magnitude of the electric dipole moment of the electron (eEDM) larger than that predicted by the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics is expected to have a huge impact on the search for physics beyond the SM. Polar…
Single trapped ions are ideal systems in which to test atomic physics at high precision: they are effectively isolated atoms held at rest and largely free from perturbing interactions. This thesis describes several projects developed to…
Symmetry informed diffraction patterns for magnetically ordered MnF2 illuminated by x-rays tuned in energy to a Mn atomic resonance depend on circular polarization in the primary beam. The change in intensity of a Bragg spot with a change…
A new scheme for enantiomer differentiation of chiral molecules using a pair of linearly polarized intense ultrashort laser pulses with skewed mutual polarization is presented. The technique relies on the fact that the off-diagonal…
Electrostatic force microscopy at cryogenic temperatures is used to probe the electrostatic interaction of a conductive atomic force microscopy tip and electronic charges trapped in localized states in an insulating layer on a…
A strong, far-detuned laser can shift the energy levels of an optically active quantum system via the AC Stark effect. We demonstrate that the polarization of the laser results in a spin-selective modification to the energy structure of a…
Heavy polar molecules can be used to measure the electric dipole moment of the electron, which is a sensitive probe of physics beyond the Standard Model. The value is determined by measuring the precession of the molecule's spin in a plane…
The ratio of the off-diagonal hyperfine amplitude to the tensor transition polarizability (Mhf/beta) for the 6S-7S transition in cesium has been measured. The value of beta=27.024(43)(expt)(67)(theory)a_0^3 is then obtained using an…
We set up the framework for the calculation of electric dipole moments (EDMs) of light nuclei using the systematic expansion provided by chiral effective field theory (EFT). We take into account parity (P) and time-reversal (T) violation…
Forbidden atomic transitions provide some of the most stringent low-energy tests of physics beyond the Standard Model, with sensitivity set by the interplay between the sought-for signals and systematics suppressed by symmetry. Here we…
We demonstrate measurement of quadratic AC Stark shifts between Zeeman sublevels in an $^{87}$Rb Bose--Einstein condensate using a multi-state atomic interferometer. The interferometer can detect a quadratic shift without being affected by…
The coherence of quantum dot qubits fabricated in semiconductors is often limited by charge noise from defects in gate dielectrics, which are material- and process-dependent. Characterizing these defects is an important step towards…
We examine, both experimentally and theoretically, an interaction of tightly focused polarized light with a slit on a metal surface supporting plasmon-polariton modes. Remarkably, this simple system can be highly sensitive to the…
Nuclear ground state and collective excitation properties provide a means to probe the nuclear matter equation of state and establish connections between observables in finite nuclei and neutron stars. Specifically, the electric dipole…
When the weak-forces producing parity-violating effects are taken into account, there is a tiny energy difference between the total electronic energies of two enantiomers ($\Delta E_{PV}$), which might be the key to understand the evolution…
We discuss a fundamentally new approach for the measurement of electric (E) fields that will lead to the development of a broadband, direct SI-traceable, compact, self-calibrating E-field probe (sensor). This approach is based on the…
The study of molecular systems provides exceptional opportunities for the exploration of the fundamental laws of nature and for the search for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. Measurements of molecules composed of…
A simple, self-calibrating, rotating-waveplate polarimeter is largely insensitive to light intensity fluctuations and is shown to be useful for determining the Stokes parameters of light. This study shows how to minimize the in situ…