Probing the electroweak structure of nuclei with rare atoms and molecules

Abstract

Precision experiments of atoms and molecules have become a powerful probe of the electroweak structure of atomic nuclei and of physics beyond the Standard Model. We review how the interaction between a nucleus and its surrounding bound electrons can be exploited to precisely measure the electromagnetic, parity-violating, and CP-violating properties of nuclei and their fundamental constituents. We focus on rare, unstable isotopes, surveying the experimental techniques and facilities developed in recent years that have extended these measurements to the most exotic regions of the nuclear chart. Recent advances in the precision control and interrogation of single molecules, together with direct laser excitation of nuclear transitions, are opening new frontiers in nuclear and particle physics. At the same time, progress in nuclear theory, machine learning, and high-performance computing is strengthening the connection between our microscopic description of nature and laboratory observables. In many cases, the precision with which nuclear and particle physics properties can be extracted is now limited not by experiment, but by the molecular, atomic, or nuclear theory required to interpret the measurements. This challenge presents a major opportunity for combined theoretical and experimental advances that will enable future discoveries.