PIRSA:20010041

The proton size, the fine-structure constant and the electron electric dipole moment

APA

Hessels, E. (2020). The proton size, the fine-structure constant and the electron electric dipole moment . Perimeter Institute. https://pirsa.org/20010041

MLA

Hessels, Eric. The proton size, the fine-structure constant and the electron electric dipole moment . Perimeter Institute, Jan. 22, 2020, https://pirsa.org/20010041

BibTex

          @misc{ pirsa_PIRSA:20010041,
            doi = {10.48660/20010041},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/20010041},
            author = {Hessels, Eric},
            keywords = {Other},
            language = {en},
            title = {The proton size, the fine-structure constant and the electron electric dipole moment },
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2020},
            month = {jan},
            note = {PIRSA:20010041 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Eric Hessels

York University

Talk number
PIRSA:20010041
Collection
Talk Type
Subject
Abstract

Fundamental physics (including physics beyond the Standard Model) can be tested using table-top precision measurements. The talk will describe measurements of the size of the proton, the fine-structure constant and the electric dipole moment of the electron. Two recently completed measurements will be described. For the first measurement, the n=2 Lamb shift of atomic hydrogen is measured, allowing for a new determination of the charge radius of the proton. This determination is crucial to resolving the decade-old proton radius puzzle, in which it appeared that the proton radius took on a different value when measured with muons compared to measurements using electrons. The second measurement is of the n=2 triplet P fine structure of atomic helium, and this work is part of a program to obtain a new determination of the fine-structure constant. Both of these measurements use a new measurements technique: Frequency offset separated oscillatory fields. Finally, a new major effort (EDM^3) is starting at York University to measure the electron electric dipole moment using polar molecules embedded into inert-gas solids. This measurement will test for T violation and will probe physics up to the PeV energy scale.