Search for a Permanent Electric Dipole Moment on theXe129Atom

A measurement of a permanent electric dipole moment on xenon atoms has yielded the null result $d\left({}_{}{}^{129}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Xe}\right)=(-0.3\mathrm{}\pm 1.1)\times {10}^{-26\mathrm{}} e·$ cm, achieved by use of spin exchange with optically pumped rubidium atoms to determine the precession frequency of the xenon nuclear spins as a function of applied electric field. This measurement improves the limit on an atomic dipole moment by over four orders of magnitude. It is sensitive to time-reversal-asymmetric forces within the atom, setting a new upper limit of ${10}^{-6\mathrm{}}{G}_{\mathrm{F}}$ on a short-range tensor-pseudotensor electron-nucleon coupling.