Search for the electron electric dipole moment using $\Omega$-doublet levels in PbO$^*$

TL;DR

This study reports the first experiment using $ ext{PbO}$ molecules' $ ext{Ω}$-doublet states to search for the electron EDM, highlighting systematic error rejection and setting an upper limit on the EDM magnitude.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel experimental approach utilizing $ ext{Ω}$-doublet levels in $ ext{PbO}$ to improve systematic error rejection in electron EDM searches.

Findings

Set an upper limit on the electron EDM at $|d_e|<1.7\times10^{-26}$ e·cm (90% confidence)

Demonstrated the systematic error rejection benefits of $ ext{Ω}$-doublet level structure

Provided experimental results using metastable $a(1)^3\Sigma^+$ state of PbO

Abstract

We present results of the first experiment to probe for the electric dipole moment (EDM) of the electron using an $\Omega$-doublet state in a polar molecule. If the molecule is both massive and has a large molecular-fixed frame dipole moment, then the $\Omega$-doublet states have the potential to greatly increase the sensitivity of experiments searching for the EDM while also allowing for new methods of systematic error rejection. Here, we use the metastable $a(1)^3\Sigma^+$ state of lead monoxide (PbO) to probe for the electron EDM. Our best fit for the electron EDM of $d_e = (-4.4\pm9.5_\text{stat}\pm1.8_\text{syst})\times10^{-27}\ecm$ allows us to place an upper limit on the magnitude of the EDM of $|d_e|<1.7\times10^{-26}\ecm$ (90% confidence). While this is less stringent than limits from other, previous experiments, our work emphasizes the systematic error rejection properties associated with the $\Omega$-doublet level structure. The results should inform the work of other, ongoing experiments that use molecules with analogous level structure.