Measuring nuclear-spin-dependent parity violation with molecules: Experimental methods and analysis of systematic errors

Abstract

Nuclear spin-dependent parity violation (NSD-PV) effects in atoms and molecules arise from $Z^0$ boson exchange between electrons and the nucleus, and from the magnetic interaction between electrons and the parity-violating nuclear anapole moment. It has been proposed to study NSD-PV effects using an enhancement of the observable effect in diatomic molecules [D. DeMille $\textit{et al.}$, Phys. Rev. Lett. $\textbf{100}$, 023003 (2008)]. Here, we demonstrate measurements of this type with sensitivity surpassing that of any previous atomic PV measurement, using the test system ${^{138}\mathrm{Ba^{19}F}}$. We show that systematic errors associated with our technique can be suppressed to at least the level of the present statistical sensitivity. With $\sim\!170$ hours of data, we measure the matrix element, $W$, of the NSD-PV interaction with uncertainty $\delta W/(2\pi)<0.7$ Hz, for each of two configurations where $W$ must have different signs. This sensitivity would be sufficient to measure NSD-PV effects of the size anticipated across a wide range of nuclei.