| 61. |
- Ahmadi, M., et al.
(författare)
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Characterization of the 1S-2S transition in antihydrogen
- 2018
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 557:7703, s. 71-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 1928, Dirac published an equation(1) that combined quantum mechanics and special relativity. Negative-energy solutions to this equation, rather than being unphysical as initially thought, represented a class of hitherto unobserved and unimagined particles-antimatter. The existence of particles of antimatter was confirmed with the discovery of the positron(2) (or anti-electron) by Anderson in 1932, but it is still unknown why matter, rather than antimatter, survived after the Big Bang. As a result, experimental studies of antimatter(3-7), including tests of fundamental symmetries such as charge-parity and charge-parity-time, and searches for evidence of primordial antimatter, such as antihelium nuclei, have high priority in contemporary physics research. The fundamental role of the hydrogen atom in the evolution of the Universe and in the historical development of our understanding of quantum physics makes its antimatter counterpart-the antihydrogen atom-of particular interest. Current standard-model physics requires that hydrogen and antihydrogen have the same energy levels and spectral lines. The laser-driven 1S-2S transition was recently observed(8) in antihydrogen. Here we characterize one of the hyperfine components of this transition using magnetically trapped atoms of antihydrogen and compare it to model calculations for hydrogen in our apparatus. We find that the shape of the spectral line agrees very well with that expected for hydrogen and that the resonance frequency agrees with that in hydrogen to about 5 kilohertz out of 2.5 x 10(15) hertz. This is consistent with charge-parity-time invariance at a relative precision of 2 x 10(-12)-two orders of magnitude more precise than the previous determination(8)-corresponding to an absolute energy sensitivity of 2 x 10(-20) GeV.
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| 62. |
- Ahmadi, M., et al.
(författare)
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Enhanced Control and Reproducibility of Non-Neutral Plasmas
- 2018
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 120:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The simultaneous control of the density and particle number of non-neutral plasmas confined in Penning-Malmberg traps is demonstrated. Control is achieved by setting the plasma's density by applying a rotating electric field while simultaneously fixing its axial potential via evaporative cooling. This novel method is particularly useful for stabilizing positron plasmas, as the procedures used to collect positrons from radioactive sources typically yield plasmas with variable densities and particle numbers; it also simplifies optimization studies that require plasma parameter scans. The reproducibility achieved by applying this technique to the positron and electron plasmas used by the ALPHA antihydrogen experiment at CERN, combined with other developments, contributed to a 10-fold increase in the antiatom trapping rate.
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| 63. |
- Amole, C., et al.
(författare)
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Silicon vertex detector upgrade in the ALPHA experiment
- 2013
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Ingår i: Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A. - : Elsevier BV. - 0168-9002 .- 1872-9576. ; 732, s. 134-136
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) is the main diagnostic tool in the ALPHA-experiment. It provides precise spatial and timing information of antiproton (antihydrogen) annihilation events (vertices), and most importantly, the SVD is capable of directly identifying and analysing single annihilation events, thereby forming the basis of ALPHA's analysis. This paper describes the ALPHA SVD and its upgrade, installed in the ALPHA's new neutral atom trap.
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| 64. |
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| 65. |
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| 66. |
- Andresen, G. B., et al.
(författare)
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Evaporative Cooling of Antiprotons to Cryogenic Temperatures
- 2010
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Ingår i: Physical Review Letters. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 105:1, s. 013003-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the application of evaporative cooling to clouds of trapped antiprotons, resulting in plasmas with measured temperature as low as 9 K. We have modeled the evaporation process for charged particles using appropriate rate equations. Good agreement between experiment and theory is observed, permitting prediction of cooling efficiency in future experiments. The technique opens up new possibilities for cooling of trapped ions and is of particular interest in antiproton physics, where a precise CPT test on trapped antihydrogen is a long-standing goal.
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| 67. |
- Andresen, G. B., et al.
(författare)
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Search for trapped antihydrogen
- 2011
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Ingår i: Physics Letters B. - : Elsevier BV. - 0370-2693 .- 1873-2445. ; 695:1-4, s. 95-104
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present the results of an experiment to search for trapped antihydrogen atoms with the ALPHA antihydrogen trap at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator. Sensitive diagnostics of the temperatures, sizes, and densities of the trapped antiproton and positron plasmas have been developed, which in turn permitted development of techniques to precisely and reproducibly control the initial experimental parameters. The use of a position-sensitive annihilation vertex detector, together with the capability of controllably quenching the superconducting magnetic minimum trap, enabled us to carry out a high-sensitivity and low-background search for trapped synthesised antihydrogen atoms. We aim to identify the annihilations of antihydrogen atoms held for at least 130 ms in the trap before being released over ~30 ms. After a three-week experimental run in 2009 involving mixing of 107 antiprotons with 1.3ￜ109 positrons to produce 6ￜ105 antihydrogen atoms, we have identified six antiproton annihilation events that are consistent with the release of trapped antihydrogen. The cosmic ray background, estimated to contribute 0.14 counts, is incompatible with this observation at a significance of 5.6 sigma. Extensive simulations predict that an alternative source of annihilations, the escape of mirror-trapped antiprotons, is highly unlikely, though this possibility has not yet been ruled out experimentally.
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| 68. |
- Andresen, G. B., et al.
(författare)
-
Trapped antihydrogen
- 2010
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 468:7324, s. 673-676
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antimatter was first predicted1 in 1931, by Dirac. Work with high-energy antiparticles is now commonplace, and anti-electrons are used regularly in the medical technique of positron emission tomography scanning. Antihydrogen, the bound state of an antiproton and a positron, has been produced2, 3 at low energies at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) since 2002. Antihydrogen is of interest for use in a precision test of nature’s fundamental symmetries. The charge conjugation/parity/time reversal (CPT) theorem, a crucial part of the foundation of the standard model of elementary particles and interactions, demands that hydrogen and antihydrogen have the same spectrum. Given the current experimental precision of measurements on the hydrogen atom (about two parts in 1014 for the frequency of the 1s-to-2s transition4), subjecting antihydrogen to rigorous spectroscopic examination would constitute a compelling, model-independent test of CPT. Antihydrogen could also be used to study the gravitational behaviour of antimatter5. However, so far experiments have produced antihydrogen that is not confined, precluding detailed study of its structure. Here we demonstrate trapping of antihydrogen atoms. From the interaction of about 107 antiprotons and 7 × 108 positrons, we observed 38 annihilation events consistent with the controlled release of trapped antihydrogen from our magnetic trap; the measured background is 1.4 ± 1.4 events. This result opens the door to precision measurements on anti-atoms, which can soon be subjected to the same techniques as developed for hydrogen.
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| 69. |
- Baker, C. J., et al.
(författare)
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Sympathetic cooling of positrons to cryogenic temperatures for antihydrogen production
- 2021
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 12:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The positron, the antiparticle of the electron, predicted by Dirac in 1931 and discovered by Anderson in 1933, plays a key role in many scientific and everyday endeavours. Notably, the positron is a constituent of antihydrogen, the only long-lived neutral antimatter bound state that can currently be synthesized at low energy, presenting a prominent system for testing fundamental symmetries with high precision. Here, we report on the use of laser cooled Be+ ions to sympathetically cool a large and dense plasma of positrons to directly measured temperatures below 7 K in a Penning trap for antihydrogen synthesis. This will likely herald a significant increase in the amount of antihydrogen available for experimentation, thus facilitating further improvements in studies of fundamental symmetries. Positrons are key to the production of cold antihydrogen. Here the authors report the sympathetic cooling of positrons by interacting them with laser-cooled Be+ ions resulting in a three-fold reduction of the temperature of positrons for antihydrogen synthesis.
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| 70. |
- Charlton, M, et al.
(författare)
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Antiparticle sources for antihydrogen production and trapping
- 2011
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics: Conference Series. - : IOP Publishing. - 1742-6596. ; 262, s. 012001-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sources of positrons and antiprotons that are currently used for the formation of antihydrogen with low kinetic energies are reviewed, mostly in the context of the ALPHA collaboration and its predecessor ATHENA. The experiments were undertaken at the Antiproton Decelerator facility, which is located at CERN. Operations performed on the clouds of antiparticles to facilitate their mixing to produce antihydrogen are described. These include accumulation, cooling and manipulation. The formation of antihydrogen and some of the characteristics of the anti-atoms that are created are discussed. Prospects for trapping antihydrogen in a magnetic minimum trap, as envisaged by the ALPHA collaboration, are reviewed.
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