Nuclear Schiff moment of fluorine isotope $^{19}$F

TL;DR

This paper presents the first ab initio calculation of the nuclear Schiff moment in fluorine-19, linking nuclear theory with molecular measurements to set bounds on fundamental CP-violating interactions beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It introduces a novel ab initio approach to calculate nuclear Schiff moments and connects these calculations with molecular experiments to constrain new physics.

Findings

First ab initio calculation of $^{19}$F NSM

Established a method to connect nuclear calculations with molecular measurements

Provided initial bounds on $ ext{CP}$ violation parameters

Abstract

Nuclear Schiff moments (NSMs) are sensitive probes for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, signaling violations of time-reversal and parity-inversion symmetries in atomic nuclei. In this Letter, we report the first-ever calculation of a NSM in a nuclear ab initio framework, employing the no-core shell model to study the fluorine isotope $^{19}$F. We further perform quantum-chemistry calculations to evaluate the sensitivity of the hafnium monofluoride cation, HfF$^+$, to the NSM of $^{19}$F. Combined with recent high-precision measurements of the molecular electric dipole moment of HfF$^+$, our results enable the first experimental bound on the NSM of $^{19}$F. Although the resulting bounds on the pion-nucleon-nucleon ($\pi$NN) coupling constants are not yet the most stringent, this work establishes the foundation for constraining $\pi$NN interactions using nuclear ab initio methods.