Heavy polar ThO molecules used as an amplifiers/filters of an Electron Electric Dipole
Dr. Emil Kirilov (University of Innsbruck)

The internal charge distribution of an electron has surprising implications for a number of outstanding mysteries in physics. Why is the universe made out of matter instead of anti-matter, instead of both equally? What new particles and interactions lie outside the current reach of accelerators like the LHC? One of the side effects of models which propose answers to these questions, such as Supersymmetry, is that they tend to predict a small, yet potentially measurable, asymmetric interaction between an electron and an electric field, characterized by the electric dipole moment (EDM).
Despite over six decades of experimental searching, no EDM of any fundamental particle has ever been measured; however, these experiments continue to provide some of the most stringent limits on new physics. Here, we present the results of a new search for the electron EDM, using a beam of heavy ThO molecules, which represents an order of magnitude improvement in sensitivity from the previous best limit. Since our measurement is consistent with zero, we present the upper limit of |de|<8.7x10-29e.cm with 90% confidence.