EXA2011

Every atom is exotic. It is merely a (very good) approximation that an atom is dominated by the electromagnetic interaction. According to the electroweak theory of particle physics, the heavy Z0 neutral gauge boson mediates interactions in atoms that violate parity. Ever since the creation of the field in the early 70s, this atomic parity violation has been an important low-energy test of the Standard Model. In my talk, I review the status of atomic parity violation, the theoretical atomic and particle physics aspects, and the ongoing efforts to improve the state-of-the-art results obtained with cesium.