Trapping {sup 82}Rb for {beta}-decay parity violation measurements

We report on the Los Alamos effort to measure the {beta}-nuclear spin correlation function in the Gamow-Teller decay of polarized {sup 82}Rb atoms confined in a time orbiting potential (TOP) magnetic trap as a means of probing the origin of parity violation in the electroweak interaction. As a first step in this experiment, we have recently trapped 6 million {sup 82}Rb (t{sub 1/2}=75 s) atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) that is coupled to a mass separator. The hyperfine structure of the D{sub 1} transition has been measured for the first time and the D{sub 2} line has been remeasured with higher precision. Moreover, we have recently transferred radioactive atoms from one MOT to another MOT where they have been retrapped and accumulated due to the improved vacuum in the second MOT. We are currently working to optically pump these retrapped atoms into the desired weak-field-seeking, stretched magnetic substate and to load them into the pure magnetic moment TOP trap which will serve as a rotating beacon of spin-polarized nuclei. Using a single (or small set of) positron detectors, we will measure the {beta}-nuclear spin asymmetry as a continuous function of both beta energy and {beta}-nuclear spin angle. Precise measurements initially at the 1% level are planned.