The existence of a nonzero permanent electric dipole moment (EDM) of a non-degenerate

physical system physical system is a signature of the simultaneous violations of time-reversal

(T) and parity (P) symmetries. T violation implies the combined charge conjugation (C) and

P violation (CP violation) via the CPT theorem.

Atomic EDMs are excellent probes of physics beyond the standard model , and they provide

important insights into a rich variety of CP violations – leptonic, semi-leptonic, and hadronic

sectors. Experimental searches are underway for the EDMs of paramagnetic (open-shell) and

diamagnetic (closed-shell) atoms. The results of the experiments can be combined with those

of sophisticated atomic many-body calculations to determine various CP violating coupling

constants at the atomic level. These quantities can ultimately be related to the CP violation

parameters at the elementary particle level and tested with the predictions of the different

particle physics models.

The present talk will give an introduction to atomic EDMs and touch upon on some of the

ongoing searches of these EDMs as well as their future prospects.