Polarizabilities as Probes for P, T, and PT Violation

TL;DR

This paper explores how atomic and molecular polarizabilities can serve as sensitive probes for detecting violations of fundamental symmetries like parity and time reversal, expanding the range of observable effects beyond traditional measurements.

Contribution

It introduces new symmetry-violation observables related to polarizabilities, including effects observable with oscillating or inhomogeneous fields, enhancing experimental detection methods.

Findings

Revealed new P-odd, T-odd observables in atomic/molecular responses.

Identified effects detectable with oscillating or inhomogeneous fields.

Connected polarizability responses to fundamental symmetry violations.

Abstract

Searches for violations of the fundamental symmetries of parity P and time reversal T in atomic and molecular systems provide a powerful tool for precise measurements of the physics of and beyond the standard model. In this work, we investigate how these symmetry violations affect the response of atoms and molecules to applied electric and magnetic fields. We recover well-known observables such as the P-odd, T-odd spin-electric field coupling that is used for searches of the electron electric dipole moment (eEDM) or the effect of P-odd, T-even optical rotation in atomic gases. Besides these, we obtain several other possible observables. This includes, in particular, effects that can only be seen when using oscillating or inhomogeneous fields.