K. Tsigutkin

Observation of a Large Atomic Parity Violation Effect in Ytterbium

Atomic parity violation has been observed in the 6s(2 1)S(0)-->5d6s(3)D(1) 408-nm forbidden transition of ytterbium. The parity-violating amplitude is found to be 2 orders of magnitude larger than in cesium, where the most precise experiments to date have been performed. This is in accordance with theoretical predictions and constitutes the largest atomic parity-violating amplitude yet observed. This also opens the way to future measurements of neutron distributions and anapole moments by comparing parity-violating amplitudes for various isotopes and hyperfine components of the transition.

Controlling atomic vapor density in paraffin-coated cells using light-induced atomic desorption

Atomic-vapor density change due to light induced atomic desorption (LIAD) is studied in paraffincoated rubidium, cesium, sodium and potassium cells. In the present experiment, low-intensity probe light is used to obtain an absorption spectrum and measure the vapor density, while light from an argon-ion laser, array of light emitting diodes, or discharge lamp is used for desorption. Potassium is found to exhibit significantly weaker LIAD from paraffin compared to Rb and Cs, and we were unable to observe LIAD with sodium. A simple LIAD model is applied to describe the observed vapor-density dynamics, and the role of the cell’s stem is explored through the use of cells with lockable stems. Stabilization of Cs vapor density above its equilibrium value over 25 minutes is demonstrated. The results of this work could be used to assess the use of LIAD for vapor-density control in magnetometers, clocks, and gyroscopes utilizing coated cells.

Nonlinear magneto-optical rotation and Zeeman and hyperfine relaxation of potassium atoms in a paraffin-coated cell

Nonlinear magneto-optical Faraday rotation (NMOR) on the potassium D1 and D2 lines was used to study Zeeman relaxation rates in an antirelaxation paraffin-coated 3-cm-diameter potassium vapor cell. Intrinsic Zeeman relaxation rates of {gamma}{sup NMOR}/2{pi}=2.0(6) Hz were observed. The relatively small hyperfine intervals in potassium lead to significant differences in NMOR in potassium compared to rubidium and cesium. Using laser optical pumping, widths and frequency shifts were also determined for transitions between ground-state hyperfine sublevels of {sup 39}K atoms contained in the same paraffin-coated cell. The intrinsic hyperfine relaxation rate of {gamma}{sub expt}{sup hf}/2{pi}=10.6(7) Hz and a shift of -9.1(2) Hz were observed. These results show that adiabatic relaxation gives only a small contribution to the overall hyperfine relaxation in the case of potassium, and the relaxation is dominated by other mechanisms similar to those observed in previous studies with rubidium.

Parity violation in atomic ytterbium: experimental sensitivity and systematics

We present a detailed description of the observation of parity violation in the 6s 2 1 S0 ! 5d6s 3 D1 408-nm forbidden transition of ytterbium, a brief report of which appeared earlier. Linearly polarized 408-nm light interacts with Yb atoms in crossed E- and B-fields. The probability of the 408nm transition contains a parity violating term, proportional to (E · B)[(E × E) · B], arising from interference between the parity violating amplitude and the Stark amplitude due to the E-field (E is the electric field of the light). The transition probability is detected by measuring the population of the 3 P0 state, to which 65% of the atoms excited to the 3 D1 state spontaneously decay. The population of the 3 P0 state is determined by resonantly exciting the atoms with 649-nm light to the 6s7s 3 S1 state and collecting the fluorescence resulting from its decay. Systematic corrections due to E-field and B-field imperfections are determined in auxiliary experiments. The statistical uncertainty is dominated by parasitic frequency excursions of the 408-nm excitation light due to imperfect stabilization of the optical reference with respect to the atomic resonance. The present uncertainties are 9% statistical and 8% systematic. Methods of improving the accuracy for the future experiments are discussed.

Measurement of dynamic Stark polarizabilities by analyzing spectral line shapes of forbidden transitions

We present a measurement of the dynamic scalar and tensor polarizabilities of the excited state

Towards measuring nuclear-spin-dependent and isotopic-chain atomic parity violation in ytterbium

|5d6s {}^{3}{D}_{1}\ensuremath{\rangle}

Atomic parity violation inJ=0→0two-photon transitions

in atomic ytterbium. The polarizabilities were measured by analyzing the spectral lineshape of the 408-nm

Isotopic variation of parity violation in atomic ytterbium

6{s}^{2} {}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}5d6s {}^{3}{D}_{1}

Atomic parity violation in 0→ 0 two-photon transitions

transition driven by a standing wave of resonant light in the presence of static electric and magnetic fields. Due to the interaction of atoms with the standing wave, the lineshape has a characteristic polarizability-dependent distortion. A theoretical model was used to simulate the lineshape and determine a combination of the polarizabilities of the ground and excited states by fitting the model to experimental data. This combination was measured with a 13

Parity violation in two-photon J=0-to-1 transitions: Analysis of systematic errors

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