Reduced Limit on the Permanent Electric Dipole Moment of $^{199}$Hg

Abstract

This paper describes the results of the most recent measurement of the permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of neutral $^{199}$Hg atoms. Fused silica vapor cells containing enriched $^{199}$Hg are arranged in a stack in a common magnetic field. Optical pumping is used to spin-polarize the atoms orthogonal to the applied magnetic field, and the Faraday rotation of near-resonant light is observed to determine an electric-field-induced perturbation to the Larmor precession frequency. Our results for this frequency shift are consistent with zero; we find the corresponding $^{199}$Hg EDM $d_{Hg} = (2.20 \pm 2.75_{stat} \pm 1.48_{syst}) \times 10^{-30} e\cdot \text{cm}$. We use this result to place a new upper limit on the $^{199}$Hg EDM $|d_{Hg}| < 7.4\times 10^{-30} e\cdot \text{cm}$ (95\% C.L.), improving our previous limit by a factor of 4. We also discuss the implications of this result for various $CP$-violating observables as they relate to theories of physics beyond the standard model.