Speaker: Marianna Safronova, University of Delaware
Abstract: I will give an overview of searches for new physics with atomic systems, including the study of parity violation, search for EDM, and the search for variation of fundamental constants. The study of parity nonconservation in cesium led to a first measurement of the nuclear anapole moment and allowed to place constraints on weak meson-nucleon couplings. I will review the present status of atomic parity violation studies and the implications for searches for physics beyond the standard model and study of weak hadronic interactions. In the second part of my talk, I will discuss the state-of-the art atomic clock development focusing on the issue of the blackbody radiation shifts as well as application of clocks to the searches for variation of the fine-structure constant.