Application of relativistic coupled-cluster theory to the effective electric field in YbF

Abstract

An accurate determination of the effective electric field $({E}_{\mathrm{eff}})$ in YbF is important as it can be combined with the results of future experiments to give an improved new limit for the electric dipole moment of the electron. We report a relativistic coupled-cluster calculation of this quantity in which all the core electrons were excited. It surpasses the approximations made in the previous reported calculations. We obtain a value of 23.1 GV/cm for ${E}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ in YbF with an estimated error of less than 10%. The crucial roles of the basis sets and the core excitations in our paper are discussed.