Probing CP violation with the electric dipole moment of atomic mercury.

The electric dipole moment of atomic 199Hg induced by the nuclear Schiff moment and the tensor-pseudotensor electron-nucleus interactions are calculated. For this, we develop and employ a novel method based on the relativistic coupled-cluster theory. The results of our theoretical calculations, combined with the latest experimental result of the 199Hg electric dipole moment, provide new bounds on the T reversal or CP violation parameters thetaQCD, the tensor-pseudotensor coupling constant CT, and (tilde d(u)-tilde d(d)). This is the most accurate calculation of these parameters to date. We highlight the crucial role of electron correlation effects in their interplay with the P, T violating interactions. Our results demonstrate substantial changes in the results of earlier calculations of these parameters which can be attributed to the more accurate inclusion of important correlation effects.