Nuclear anapole moment and tests of the standard model

Abstract

There are two sources of parity nonconservation (PNC) in atoms: the electron-nucleus weak interaction and the magnetic interaction of electrons with the nuclear anapole moment. A nuclear anapole moment has recently been observed. This is the first discovery of an electromagnetic moment violating fundamental symmetries—the anapole moment violates parity and charge-conjugation invariance. We describe the anapole moment and how it can be produced. The anapole moment creates a circular magnetic field inside the nucleus. The interesting point is that measurements of the anapole allow one to study parity violation inside the nucleus through atomic experiments. We use the experimental result for the nuclear anapole moment of 133Cs to find the strengths of the parity violating proton-nucleus and meson-nucleon forces. Measurements of the weak charge characterizing the strength of the electron-nucleon weak interaction provide tests of the Standard Model and a way of searching for new physics beyond the Standard Mod...