The FrPNC Experiment at TRIUMF: Atomic Parity Non-Conservation in Francium

The FrPNC collaboration has begun the construction of an on-line laser cooling and trapping apparatus at TRIUMF to measure atomic parity non-conservation (PNC) and the nuclear anapole moment in a string of artificially produced francium isotopes. Atomic PNC experiments provide unique high precision tests of the electroweak sector of the Standard Model at very low energies. Furthermore, precision measurements of spin-dependent atomic PNC can determine nuclear anapole moments and probe the weak force within the nucleus. Francium is an excellent candidate for precision measurements of atomic PNC due to its simple electronic structure and enhanced parity violation: both the optical PNC and anapole moment signals are expected to be over an order of magnitude larger than in cesium.