Weak Interaction Measurements with Optically Trapped Radioactive Atoms

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The goal of this project is to apply the latest in magneto-optical and pure magnetic trapping technology to concentrate, cool, confine, and polarize radioactive atoms for precise electroweak interaction measurements. In particular, the authors have concentrated their efforts on the trapping of {sup 82}Rb for a parity-violating, beta-asymmetry measurement. Progress has been made in successfully trapping of up to 6 million {sup 82}Rb(t{sub 1/2}=75s) atoms in a magneto-optical trap coupled to a mass separator. This represents a two order of magnitude improvement in the number trapped radioactive atoms over all previous work. They have also measured the atomic hyperfine structure of {sup 82}Rb and demonstrated the MOT-to-MOT transfer and accumulation of atoms in a second trap. Finally, they have constructed and tested a time-orbiting-potential magnetic trap that will serve as a rotating beacon of spin-polarized nuclei and a beta-telescope detection system. Prototype experiments are now underway with the initial goal of making a 1% measurements of the beta-asymmetry parameter A which would match the world's best measurements