Proposed search for T-odd, P-even interactions in spectra of chaotic atoms

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel method to detect T-odd, P-even interactions in chaotic atomic spectra by analyzing level repulsion, potentially surpassing current experimental bounds using frequency comb spectroscopy.

Contribution

It introduces a statistical approach to identify TOPE interactions in open-shell atoms with chaotic spectra, leveraging level repulsion analysis.

Findings

Chaotic spectra exhibit enhanced level repulsion due to TOPE interactions.

Statistical analysis of level counts can quantify the strength of TOPE interactions.

Frequency comb spectroscopy could measure enough levels to improve bounds on TOPE interactions.

Abstract

Violation of fundamental symmetries in atoms is the subject of intense experimental and theoretical interest. P-odd, T-even transitions have been observed and are in excellent agreement with electroweak theory. Searches for permanent electric dipole moments have placed bounds on T-odd, P-odd interactions, constraining proposed extensions to the Standard Model of elementary particles. Here we propose a new search for T-odd, P-even (TOPE) interactions in atoms. We consider open-shell atoms, such as the rare-earth atoms, which have dense, chaotic excitation spectra with strong level repulsion. The strength of the level repulsion depends on the underlying symmetries of the atomic Hamiltonian. TOPE interactions lead to enhanced level repulsion. We demonstrate how a statistical analysis of many chaotic spectra can determine the strength of level repulsion; in particular, the variance of the number of levels in an energy range has been shown to be a useful measure. We estimate that, using frequency comb spectroscopy, a sufficient number of chaotic levels could be measured to match or exceed the current experimental bounds on TOPE interactions.