Amar Vutha

This thesis is concerned with the conception, design and construction of an experiment to search for the permanent electric dipole moment of the electron (de) with improved sensitivity. This dipole moment, de, is a hypothesized quantity whose detection, or (in the absence of detection) an improved constraint on its size, would shed some light on the part played by discrete symmetries of space-time in the evolution of our universe. A non-zero d e is evidence of parity and time-reversal violation in fundamental physical processes, and provides an experimental test of many proposed extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics. The experiment takes advantage of the enhanced sensitivity of the H state in the thorium monoxide (ThO) molecule to de. The precession of the spins of the valence electrons in the internal electric field of the molecule is measured using a molecular beam apparatus. This experiment has the potential to improve the experimental limit on de to ∼10-30 e cm, an improvement by a factor of 103 over the current experimental limit. I will describe the analysis that led to the identification of ThO as a favorable system for such an experiment, details of the design and construction of the experimental apparatus, and measurements of various properties of ThO which guide estimates of the statistical sensitivity and the size of potential systematic errors in the experiment. A method of analysis of geometric phase effects in terms of off-resonant energy level shifts, which was developed in order to understand potential systematic errors in this experiment, is also described.