Fundamentals of Cavity-Enhanced Polarimetry for Parity-Nonconserving Optical Rotation Measurements: Application to Xe, Hg and I

摘要

We present the theoretical basis of a cavity-enhanced polarimetric scheme forthe measurement of parity-nonconserving (PNC) optical rotation. We discuss thepossibility of detecting PNC optical rotation in accessible transitions inmetastable Xe and Hg, and ground state I. In particular, the physics of the PNCoptical rotation is presented, and we explore the lineshape effects on theexpected PNC optical rotation signals. Furthermore, we present an analysis ofthe eigenpolarizations of the cavity-enhanced polarimeter, which is necessaryfor understanding the measurement procedure and the ability of employing robustbackground subtraction procedures using two novel signal reversals. Usingrecent atomic structure theoretical calculations, we present simulations of thePNC optical rotation signals for all proposed transitions, assuming a range ofexperimentally feasible parameters. Finally, the possibility of performingsensitive measurements of the nuclear-spin-dependent PNC effects isinvestigated, for the odd-neutron nuclei $^{129}$Xe and $^{199}$Hg, and theodd-proton nucleus $^{127}$I.