Abstract: The Physics Division at Argonne National Laboratory has developed techniques to laser cool and trap extremely rare, radioactive isotopes for applications in the geophysical sciences and to test the fundamental symmetries of nature. These capabilities enabled the establishment of Argonne’s Trace Radioisotope Analysis CentER (TRACER), which specializes in measuring the abundance of trace krypton isotopes to determine the residence time of groundwater and glacial ice. Similar techniques enabled the first measurements of the electric dipole moment (EDM) of radium-225, which represents the first EDM measurement performed on laser-trapped atoms and the only EDM measurement probing charge-parity violation within an octupole-deformed nucleus, which enhances the EDM signal that survives electron screening. I will present recent results from environmental groundwater measurements, our development of more precise trace isotope analysis, and progress toward next-generation EDM measurements with atomic radium.
Speaker: Michael Bishof, Argonne National Lab
Faculty host: TBA
Keywords: CFP, Physics
Laura Nevins
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