SIGNETS OF CP VIOLATION

In all known realistic theories the CP-odd operators in the effective lagrangian are the "signets" of CP violation: they summarily but uniquely describe both theory and observable effects. The archetypal flavour-diagonal signets are the electric dipole moments (EDM) of fundamental fermions and their neutral-weak and coloured generalizations, as well as the analogous quantities describing CP-odd gamma-W+W- and ZW+W- vertices. The gauge symmetry of the standard model must be respected above the weak scale by any putative theory of the origin of CP violation. This constraint relates EDMs and their generalizations to a blooming ensemble of other higher-dimensional signets, some of which involve extra scalar fields and/or gauge bosons and imply novel processes. To gauge what can be done at present and future facilities (e.g. LEP-I and LEP-II) in the CP-violation domain, we give limits on the most relevant of all CP-odd signets, sometimes directly from experiment, often via observable effects induced by electroweak and QCD quantum corrections. These bounds allow us to pinpoint the most promising areas of future development.