Electric Dipole Moment of the Cesium Atom. A New Upper Limit to the Electric Dipole Moment of the Electron

An atomic-beam magnetic-resonance apparatus has been used in a test of parity and time-reversal invariance in atomic systems. An upper limit to the permanent electric dipole moment of the cesium atom, |dCs|<3.7×10^-22e cm, has been set. This result leads to an upper limit to the electric dipole moment of the electron, |dₑ|<3×10^-24e cm.