Electroweak Nuclear Properties from Single Molecular Ions in a Penning Trap

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new method to measure electroweak nuclear properties by detecting parity violation in single molecular ions trapped in a Penning device, leveraging magnetic field effects to amplify weak interaction signals.

Contribution

The novel technique significantly enhances the detection of parity violation effects in molecular ions, enabling studies across diverse and unstable nuclei with high sensitivity.

Findings

Parity violation effects amplified by over twelve orders of magnitude

Method applicable to a wide range of nuclei, including rare and unstable ones

Potential for high-precision electroweak nuclear property measurements

Abstract

We present a novel technique to probe electroweak nuclear properties by measuring parity violation (PV) in single molecular ions in a Penning trap. The trap's strong magnetic field Zeeman shifts opposite-parity rotational and hyperfine molecular states into near degeneracy. The weak interaction-induced mixing between these degenerate states can be larger than in atoms by more than twelve orders of magnitude, thereby vastly amplifying PV effects. The single molecule sensitivity would be suitable for applications to nuclei across the nuclear chart, including rare and unstable nuclei.