Lux et Lex: Optical Traps for Beta Decay Studies

Trapped radioactive atoms and ions have become a standard tool of the trade

for precision studies of beyond SM physics.  decay studies, in particular,

oer the possibility of detecting deviations from standard model predictions

of the weak interaction which signal new physics. These 'precision frontier'

searches are complementary to the high energy searches performed by the

LHC and other high energy/high luminosity facilities.

I will present a general overview of magneto-optical and optical traps and

their use for weak interaction studies. I will further present both the Berkeley

²¹Na trapping experiment and the new Hebrew University ^17-25Ne trapping program, recent experimental results, and future plans.

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