Electron EDM search with laser-cooled heavy elements"

The large imbalance in the amounts of matter and antimatter currently observed in the universe demands physics beyond the standard model, which violates fundamental symmetries. Recently, the search for a non-zero permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of an elementary particle has taken place actively world-wide, because the existence of EDM violates charge conjugation parity symmetry. It is predicted that the EDM of an electron (eEDM) is enhanced in paramagnetic atoms. Francium (Fr), being the heaviest alkali element, is known to possess the largest eEDM enhancement factor amongst any ground-state atom. Therefore, we aim to search for the eEDM with unprecedented precision using Fr atoms trapped in an optical lattice. In this talk, the current status of the Fr experiment conducted at RIKEN Nishina center will be presented.