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# Nuclear-Spin Dependent Parity Violation in Optically Trapped Polyatomic Molecules

Published

### Author(s)

Eric B. Norrgard, Daniel S. Barker, Stephen P. Eckel, James A. Fedchak, Nikolai N. Klimov, Julia K. Scherschligt

### Abstract

We investigate using optically trapped linear polyatomic molecules as probes of nuclear spin- dependent parity violation. The presence of closely spaced, opposite-parity $\ell$-doublets is a general feature of such molecules, allowing parity-violation-sensitive pairs of levels to be brought to degeneracy in magnetic fields typically 100 times smaller than in diatomics. Assuming laser cooling and trapping of polyatomics at the current state-of-the-art for diatomics, we expect to measure nuclear spin-dependent parity-violating matrix elements $iW$ with 70 times better sensitivity than the current best measurements. Our scheme should allow for 10\,\% measurements of $iW$ in nuclei as light as Be or as heavy as Yb, with averaging times on order the of 10 days and 1 second, respectively.
Citation
Nature Communications Physics

### Keywords

Fundamental Symmetries, Parity Violation, Molecules, Laser Cooling
Created July 3, 2019, Updated January 27, 2020