Progress Towards the Application of Molecular Matrix Methods to Nuclear Schiff Moment Searches

Nuclear Schiff moments (NSMs) present a powerful probe into new physics through their connection to CP-symmetry violation.  We are investigating the application of molecular matrix methods to NSM searches of radioactive isotopes, in particular radium-225, which has an enhanced Schiff moment resulting from its octupole deformations.  These methods involve trapping polar molecules in a noble gas matrix, which is predicted to lock their orientation relative to the lattice vectors.  The solid nature of the lattice allows enormous guest number densities while isolating the guests from each other.  Additionally, the orientation and position-locking of the guest molecules reduces systematic effects arising from molecular motion and also allows use of oppositely-oriented guests as co-magnetometers. Polar molecules have internal electric fields that are much larger than feasible laboratory fields, which greatly increases the sensitivity.  We aim to characterize the optical properties of embedded molecules using stable surrogates, and will report on the design of a high-efficiency molecular beam source.