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, $\left|d_{\mathrm{Cs}}\right|<\mathrm{}3.7\mathrm{}\times {10}^{-22\mathrm{}}e$ cm, has been set. This result leads to an upper limit to the electric dipole moment of the electron, $\left|d_e\right|<\mathrm{}3\mathrm{}\times {10}^{-24\mathrm{}}e$ cm.