Improved constraints on an axion-mediated force

New constraints on exotic spin-dependent interactions with an ensemble-NV-diamond magnetometer

Laboratory search of exotic interactions is crucial for exploring physics beyond the standard model. We report new experimental constraints on two exotic spin-dependent interactions at the micrometer scale based on ensembles of nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond. A thin layer of NV electronic spin ensembles is synthesized as the solid-state spin quantum sensor, and a lead sphere is taken as the interacting nucleon source. Our result establishes new bounds for two types of exotic spin interactions at the micrometer scale. For an exotic parity-odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction, improved bounds are set within the force range from 5 to 500 μm. The upper limit of the corresponding coupling constant [Formula: see text] at 330 μm is more than 1000-fold more stringent than the previous constraint. For the P, T-violating scalar-pseudoscalar nucleon-electron interaction, improved constraints are established within the force range from 6 to 45 μm. The limit of the corresponding coupling constant [Formula: see text] is improved by more than one order of magnitude at 30 μm. This work demonstrates that a solid-state NV ensemble can be a powerful platform for probing exotic spin-dependent interactions.

Axion-mediated electron-electron interaction in ytterbium monohydroxide molecule

The YbOH triatomic molecule can be efficiently used to measure the electron electric dipole moment, which violates time-reversal (T) and spatial parity (P) symmetries of fundamental interactions [Kozyryev and Hutzler, Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 133002 (2017)]. We study another mechanism of the T, P-violation in the YbOH molecule-the electron-electron interaction mediated by the low-mass axionlike particle. For this, we calculate the molecular constant that characterizes this interaction and use it to estimate the expected magnitude of the effect to be measured. It is shown that this molecular constant has the same order of magnitude as the corresponding molecular constant corresponding to the axion-mediated electron-nucleus interaction. According to our estimation, an experiment on YbOH will allow one to set updated laboratory constraints on the CP-violating electron-axion coupling constants.

Constraints on the Velocity and Spin Dependent Exotic Interaction at the Micrometer Range

We report on an experimental test of the velocity and spin dependent exotic interaction that can be mediated by new light bosons. The interaction is searched by measuring the force between a gold sphere and a microfabricated magnetic structure using a cantilever. The magnetic structure consists of stripes with antiparallel electron spin polarization so that the exotic interaction between the polarized electrons in the magnetic structure and the unpolarized nucleons in the gold sphere varies periodically, which helps to suppress the spurious background signals. The experiment sets the strongest laboratory constraints on the coupling constant between electrons and nucleons at the micrometer range with f_{⊥}<5.3×10^{-8} at λ=5  μm.

Experimental limit on an exotic parity-odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction using an optically polarized vapor

Exotic spin-dependent interactions between fermions have recently attracted attention in relation to theories beyond the Standard Model. The exotic interactions can be mediated by hypothetical fundamental bosons which may explain several unsolved mysteries in physics. Here we expand this area of research by probing an exotic parity-odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction between the axial-vector electron coupling and the vector nucleon coupling for polarized electrons. This experiment utilizes a high-sensitivity atomic magnetometer, based on an optically polarized vapor that is a source of polarized electrons, and a solid-state mass containing unpolarized nucleons. The atomic magnetometer can detect an effective magnetic field induced by the exotic interaction between unpolarized nucleons and polarized electrons. We set an experimental limit on the electron-nucleon coupling \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$g_{\mathrm{A}}^{\mathrm{e}}g_{\mathrm{V}}^{\mathrm{N}} \, < \, 10^{ - 30}$$\end{document}gAegVN<10-30 at the mediator boson mass below 10⁻⁴ eV, significantly improving the current limit by up to 17 orders of magnitude.

Symmetry breaking is an important process in fundamental understanding of matter and dark matter. Here the authors discuss an experimental bound on an exotic parity odd spin- and velocity-dependent interaction between electron and nucleon by using a sensitive spin-exchange relaxation-free atomic magnetometer.

Experimental Constraint on an Exotic Spin- and Velocity-Dependent Interaction in the Sub-meV Range of Axion Mass with a Spin-Exchange Relaxation-Free Magnetometer

We conducted a search for an exotic spin- and velocity-dependent interaction for polarized electrons with an experimental approach based on a high-sensitivity spin-exchange relaxation-free (SERF) magnetometer, which serves as both a source of polarized electrons and a magnetic-field sensor. The experiment aims to sensitively detect magnetic-fieldlike effects from the exotic interaction between the polarized electrons in a SERF vapor cell and unpolarized nucleons of a closely located solid-state mass. We report experimental results on the interaction with 82 h of data averaging, which sets an experimental limit on the coupling strength around 10^{-19} for the axion mass m_{a}≲10^{-3}  eV, within the important axion window.

Searching for an exotic spin-dependent interaction with a single electron-spin quantum sensor

Searching for new particles beyond the standard model is crucial for understanding several fundamental conundrums in physics and astrophysics. Several hypothetical particles can mediate exotic spin-dependent interactions between ordinary fermions, which enable laboratory searches via the detection of the interactions. Most laboratory searches utilize a macroscopic source and detector, thus allowing the detection of interactions with submillimeter force range and above. It remains a challenge to detect the interactions at shorter force ranges. Here we propose and demonstrate that a near-surface nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond can be utilized as a quantum sensor to detect the monopole-dipole interaction between an electron spin and nucleons. Our result sets a constraint for the electron-nucleon coupling, [Formula: see text], with the force range 0.1-23 μm. The obtained upper bound of the coupling at 20 μm is [Formula: see text] < 6.24 × 10-15.

Improved Limits on Axionlike-Particle-Mediated P, T-Violating Interactions between Electrons and Nucleons from Electric Dipole Moments of Atoms and Molecules

In the presence of P, T-violating interactions, the exchange of axionlike particles between electrons and nucleons in atoms and molecules induces electric dipole moments (EDMs) of atoms and molecules. We perform calculations of such axion-exchange-induced atomic EDMs using the relativistic Hartree-Fock-Dirac method including electron core polarization corrections. We present analytical estimates to explain the dependence of these induced atomic EDMs on the axion mass and atomic parameters. From the experimental bounds on the EDMs of atoms and molecules, including ^{133}Cs, ^{205}Tl, ^{129}Xe, ^{199}Hg, ^{171}Yb^{19}F, ^{180}Hf^{19}F^{+}, and ^{232}Th^{16}O, we constrain the P, T-violating scalar-pseudoscalar nucleon-electron and electron-electron interactions mediated by a generic axionlike particle of arbitrary mass. Our limits improve on existing laboratory bounds from other experiments by many orders of magnitude for m_{a}≳10^{-2}  eV. We also place constraints on CP violation in certain types of relaxion models.

Short-Range, Spin-Dependent Interactions of Electrons: A Probe for Exotic Pseudo-Goldstone Bosons

We used a torsion pendulum and rotating attractor with 20-pole electron-spin distributions to probe dipole-dipole interactions mediated by exotic pseudo-Goldstone bosons with m(b)c(2)≤500 μeV and coupling strengths up to 14 orders of magnitude weaker than electromagnetism. This corresponds to symmetry-breaking scales F≤70 TeV, the highest reached in any laboratory experiment. We used an attractor with a 20-pole unpolarized mass distribution to improve laboratory bounds on CP-violating monopole-dipole forces with 1.5 μeV<m(b)c(2)<400 μeV by up to a factor of 1000.

Limits on exotic long-range spin-spin interactions of electrons

We surrounded a rotating torsion pendulum containing 9.8×10(22) polarized electrons by 2 or 4 stationary sources, each with a net spin of 6.0×10(24) polarized electrons. Multiple source configurations gave sensitivity to hypothetical dipole-dipole, spin-dot-spin, and spin-cross-spin exchange interactions mediated by bosons with masses up to 20 μeV. For bosons with masses ≤0.1 μeV our null results for the dipole-dipole, spin-dot-spin, and spin-cross-spin forces imply 1σ upper limits on (g(P)(e))(2)/(ħc), (g(A)(e))(2)/(ħc) and (g(V)(e)g(A)(e))/(ħc) of 2.2×10(-16), 3.8×10(-40), and 1.2×10(-28), respectively. We also constrain, for the first time, any possible linear combination of static spin-spin interactions. In this case our upper limits relax to 5.6×10(-16), 9.8×10(-40), and 1.2×10(-28), respectively.

Constraints on spin-dependent short-range interaction between nucleons

We search for a spin-dependent P- and T-violating nucleon-nucleon interaction mediated by light pseudoscalar bosons such as axions or axionlike particles. We employ an ultrasensitive low-field magnetometer based on the detection of free precession of colocated 3He and 129Xe nuclear spins using SQUIDs as low-noise magnetic flux detectors. The precession frequency shift in the presence of an unpolarized mass was measured to determine the coupling of pseudoscalar particles to the spin of the bound neutron. For boson masses between 2 and 500  μeV (force ranges between 3×1(-4)  m and 10(-1)  m) we improved the laboratory upper bounds by up to 4 orders of magnitude.

Laboratory search for a long-range T-odd, P-odd interaction from axionlike particles using dual-species nuclear magnetic resonance with polarized 129Xe and 131Xe gas

Various theories beyond the standard model predict new particles with masses in the sub-eV range with very weak couplings to ordinary matter. A new P-odd and T-odd interaction between polarized and unpolarized nucleons proportional to K·r is one such possibility, where r is the distance between the nucleons and K is the spin of the polarized nucleon. Such an interaction involving a scalar coupling gs at one vertex and a pseudoscalar coupling gp at the polarized nucleon vertex can be induced by the exchange of spin-0 bosons. We used the NMR cell test station at Northrop Grumman Corporation to search for NMR frequency shifts in polarized 129Xe and 131Xe when a nonmagnetic zirconia rod is moved near the NMR cell. Long (T2∼20  s) spin-relaxation times allow precision measurements of the NMR frequency ratios, which are insensitive to magnetic field fluctuations. Combined with existing theoretical calculations of the neutron spin contribution to the nuclear angular momentum in xenon nuclei, the measurements improve the laboratory upper bound on the product gsgp(n) by 2 orders of magnitude for distances near 1 mm. The sensitivity of this technique can be increased by at least two more orders of magnitude.

Constraints on short-range spin-dependent interactions from scalar spin-spin coupling in deuterated molecular hydrogen

A comparison between existing nuclear magnetic resonance measurements and calculations of the scalar spin-spin interaction (J coupling) in deuterated molecular hydrogen yields stringent constraints on anomalous spin-dependent potentials between nucleons at the atomic scale (∼ 1 Å). The dimensionless coupling constant g(P)(p)g(P)(N)/4 π associated with the exchange of pseudoscalar (axionlike) bosons between nucleons is constrained to be less than 3.6 × 10(-7) for boson masses in the range of 5 keV, representing improvement by a factor of 100 over previous constraints. The dimensionless coupling constant g(A)(p)g(A)(N)/4 π associated with the exchange of an axial-vector boson between nucleons is constrained to be g(A)(p)g(A)(N)/4 π<1.3 × 10(-19) for bosons of mass ≲ 1000 eV, improving constraints at this distance scale by a factor of 100 for proton-proton couplings and more than 8 orders of magnitude for neutron-proton couplings.