Polarization Rotation Effects due to Parity Violation in Atoms

Abstract

We present a study of parity (P) violating polarization rotations of atoms in external electric fields. Five different types of rotations are identified and the consequences of time reversal invariance (T) are discussed. The role played by Zeldovich's electric dipole moment of unstable states is elucidated. To calculate the effects, we use the standard model of elementary particle physics where P violation in atoms is due to the exchange of the Z boson between the quarks in the nucleus and the atomic electrons. We consider in detail hydrogen-like systems in $n=2$ states, especially $^1_1$H, $^4_2$He$^+$, and $^{12}_6$C$^{5+}$. We discuss ways to obtain in some cases large enhancement factors for the P-violating polarization rotations and show that e.g. for $^1_1$H one could in principle observe rotations as large as a few percent, where for a statistically significant result one would need a total of $10^{15}$ polarized atoms. We point out that some of our P-violating polarization rotations are very sensitive to the nuclear spin-dependent part of the P-violating Hamiltonian which receives a contribution from the polarized strange quark density in polarized nuclei.