Development of an Apparatus for High-Precision Measurements of the Electric Dipole Moments of ³He and ¹²⁹Xe

One proposed explanation for the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe is baryogenesis; however, there are not currently enough violations of charge-parity (CP) symmetry in the standard model to support this theory. The discovery of an electric dipole moment (EDM) of an elementary particle would provide evidence of another source of CP violation. This work started the development of a high-precision apparatus to measure the EDM of polarized ³He and ¹²⁹Xe gas. Polarization was achieved via spin-exchange optical pumping (SEOP). Manipulation of the polarity of a constant electric field and analysis of the resultant changes in free induction decay (FID) signals allowed for a first low-precision EDM search. The design was tested with ³He and gave results consistent with previous null measurements of the ³He EDM.