a Search for a Permanent Electric Dipole Moment in Rubidium.

A rubidium magnetometer has been used to search for a permanent electric dipole moment in rubidium. Our preliminary result on the rubidium atom's dipole moment, d_{A} < 1.2 times 10^{ -23}e-cm, implies a limit on the intrinsic electric dipole moment of the electron, d_ {e} < 5 times 10^{-25}e-cm. This represents improvement over previous results by about a factor of four. We have also uncovered some interesting interference absorption effects which are linear in the static electric field.