Towards improved measurements of parity violation in atomic ytterbium

TL;DR

This paper discusses progress in high-precision measurements of atomic parity violation in ytterbium, aiming to test fundamental physics and nuclear structure through improved experimental techniques and apparatus.

Contribution

It introduces a new atomic-beam setup with enhanced sensitivity for measuring parity violation in Yb, enabling exploration of neutron distributions and physics beyond the Standard Model.

Findings

Measurement of parity violation effect at ~10% accuracy

Development of a new apparatus for improved sensitivity

Methods for characterizing systematic uncertainties

Abstract

We report on progress towards performing precision measurements of parity violation in Yb, in which the theoretical prediction for a strong weak-interaction-induced effect in the 6s^{2} ^{1}S_{0} \rightarrow 5d6s ^{3}D_{1} optical transition at 408 nm has already been confirmed, with a measurement of the effect at the \approx 10 % level of accuracy. With a new atomic-beam apparatus offering enhanced sensitivity, we are aiming at precisely determining the parity violation observable in Yb, which will allow us to probe the distributions of neutrons in different isotopes, investigate physics beyond the Standard Model, as well as to study intra-nucleus weak interactions, through an observation of the anapole moment of Yb nuclei with nonzero spin. We present the experimental principle employed to probe atomic parity violation, describe our new apparatus, and discuss the attained experimental sensitivity as well as the methods for characterizing systematics in these measurements.