Session AA: Plenary Session

Testing fundamental symmetries with trapped atoms and ions

Atom and ion trapping and cooling techniques, in conjunction with rapidly advancing laser and microwave technology, not only revolutionized atomic physics, but also have a profound impact on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model at very low energies. I will review experiments at the intersection of atomic, nuclear and particle physics that use these methods to search for permanent electric dipole moments implying time-reversal violation, Lorentz/CPT violation, and scalar/tensor interactions in beta decay, as well as current efforts towards improved measurements of atomic parity violation.   

Current and future searches for neutrinoless double beta decay

With the discovery of neutrino oscillations and neutrino mass, it has become a pressing question whether neutrinos have distinct antiparticle states. The most practical experimental approach to answering this question is the search for neutrinoless double beta decay, a version of a rare nuclear process that would violate lepton number conservation. The observation of neutrinoless double beta decay would prove that neutrinos are their own antiparticles. Neutrinoless double beta decay experiments deploy large source masses consisting of a select few (usually enriched) isotopes of interest. Detectors must achieve extremely low levels of radioactive background to detect this rare decay. I will report on recent searches for neutrinoless double beta decay and discuss the technical challenges that the next generation of experiments will overcome.   

Life and Death of a Free Neutron

Modern neutron sources provide extraordinary opportunities to study a wide variety of physics topics, including the physical system of the neutron itself. One of the processes under the microscope, neutron beta decay, is an archetype for all semi-leptonic charged-current weak processes. Precise measurements of the correlation parameters in neutron beta decay as well as the neutron lifetime itself are required for tests of the Standard Model and for searches of new physics. The state of the field will be presented and a program of current and future experiments and potential impacts explored.   

Measurements of Parity Violation in Electron Scattering

The measurement of the violation of parity symmetry in electron scattering has proven to be a powerful technique for exploring nuclear matter and for the search for new fundamental forces. A successful history with the experimental technique has set the stage for a series of high precision measurements to be made over the next decade. Scattering from heavy, spinless targets will measure the neutron skin of heavy nuclei, providing a valuable calibration for the equation-of-state in neutron-rich nuclear systems. Searches for new neutral-current interactions will be performed in ultra-high precision measurements of scattering from protons and electrons at very low momentum transfer $Q^2$. In the DIS regime, scattering from deuterium will extend this search for new physics while also providing a unique window on nucleon partonic structure. The physics implications of recent results and development of the next generation of experiments will be reviewed.