Fundamental symmetry tests using a xenon-129/helium-3 dual noble gas maser

We report the development and operation of the Harvard-Smithsonian 129Xe/3He dual noble gas maser. The dual noble gas maser (DNGM) is the first device to sustain simultaneous active maser oscillations on distinct transitions in two intermingled atomic species, and it allows sensitive differential measurement of the 129Xe and 3He nuclear spin-1/2 Zeeman transition frequencies [1--3]. We used the DNGM to test Lorentz and CPT symmetry with unprecedented precision. Specifically, a search for sidereal variations in the frequency difference between the DNGM's co-located 129Xe and 3He maser ensembles has placed an upper bound of 47 nHz on Lorentz and CPT violating parameters in a standard-model extension that allows violation of these symmetries. Our measurement sets the most stringent limit to date on leading-order Lorentz and CPT violations of the neutron: ∼10 -31 GeV. We also report in this thesis progress in a search for a permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of the 129Xe atom. Our preliminary result of dXe < 1 x 10 -26 e-c.m. sets a direct bound on time-reversal (T) symmetry violating interactions in the 129Xe nucleus.