Publications

Enhanced Control and Reproducibility of Non-Neutral Plasmas

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.

Antihydrogen accumulation for fundamental symmetry tests

Antihydrogen, a positron bound to an antiproton, is the simplest anti-atom. Its structure and properties are expected to mirror those of the hydrogen atom. Prospects for precision comparisons of the two, as tests of fundamental symmetries, are driving a vibrant programme of research. In this regard, a limiting factor in most experiments is the availability of large numbers of cold ground state antihydrogen atoms. Here, we describe how an improved synthesis process results in a maximum rate of 10.5 $\pm$0.6 atoms trapped and detected per cycle, corresponding to more than an order of magnitude improvement over previous work. Additionally, we demonstrate how detailed control of electron, positron and antiproton plasmas enables repeated formation and trapping of antihydrogen atoms, with the simultaneous retention of atoms produced in previous cycles. We report a record of 54 detected annihilation events from a single release of the trapped anti-atoms accumulated from five consecutive cycles.

M. Ahmadi, B.X.R. Alves, C.J. Baker, W. Bertsche4, E. Butler , A. Capra, C. Carruth, C.L. Cesar, M. Charlton, S. Cohen, R. Collister, S. Eriksson, A. Evans, N. Evetts, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, C.A. Isaac, A. Ishida, M.A. Johnson, S.A. Jones, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, M. Mathers, D. Maxwell, J.T.K. McKenna, S. Menary, J.M. Michan, T. Momose, J.J. Munich, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C.Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, R.L. Sacramento, M. Sameed, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, S. Stracka, G. Stutter, C. So, T.D. Tharp, J.E. Thompson, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf & J.S. Wurtele, Nature Comm. 8, 681 (2017).

Aspects of 1 S -2 S spectroscopy of trapped antihydrogen atoms

Antihydrogen atoms are now routinely trapped in small numbers. One of the purposes of this effort is to make precision comparisons of the 1 S -2 S transition in hydrogen and antihydrogen as a precision test of the CPT theorem. We investigate, through calculations and simulations, various methods by which the 1 S -2 S transition may be probed with only a few trapped atoms. We consider the known constraints from typical experimental geometries, detection methods, sample temperatures, laser light sources etc and we identify a viable path towards a measurement of this transition at the 10 −11 level in a realistic scenario. We also identify ways in which such a first measurement could be improved upon as a function of projected changes and improvements in antihydrogen synthesis and trapping. These calculations recently guided the first observation of the 1 S -2 S transition in trapped antihydrogen.

C. Ø. Rasmussen and N. Madsen and F. Robicheaux, J. Phys B 50, 184002 (2017)

Observation of the hyperfine spectrum of antihydrogen

We report the observation of the hyperfine spectrum of antihydrogen. By exposing trapped antihydrogen to microwave radiation and scanning the microwave frequency over two distinct transitions, we are able to extract the ground state hyperfine splitting. From a series of measurements involving a total of 194 detected atoms, we determine a splitting of 1,420.4 ± 0.5 megahertz, which agrees with the more precisely known value in ordinary hydrogen.

M. Ahmadi, B.X.R. Alves, C.J. Baker, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. Carruth, C.L. Cesar, M. Charlton, S. Cohen, R. Collister, S. Eriksson, A. Evans, N. Evetts, J. Fajans, T. Friesen,  M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, C.A. Isaac, A. Ishida, M.A. Johnson, S.A. Jones, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, M. Mathers, D.  Maxwell, J.T.K. McKenna, S.Menary, J.M. Michan, T. Momose J.J. Munich, P. Nolan, K.  Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C.Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, R.L. Sacramento, M. Sameed, E.  Sarid, D.M. Silveira, G. Stutter, C. So, T.D. Tharp, J.E. Thompson, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, Nature 548, 66-69 (2017).

Observation of the 1S-2S transition in trapped antihydrogen

We report the observation of the 1S-2S transition in magnetically trapped atoms of antihydrogen in the ALPHA-2 apparatus at CERN. We determine that the frequency of the transition, driven by two photons from a frequency stabilised laser at 243 nm, is consistent with that expected for hydrogen in the same environment.  This represents the first laser excitation of an internal quantum state of an atom of antimatter, and the most precise measurement performed on an anti-atom. Our result is consistent with CPT invariance at a relative precision of ~ 2x10-10.

M. Ahmadi, B.X.R. Alves, C.J. Baker, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. Carruth, C.L. Cesar, M. Charlton, S. Cohen, R. Collister, S. Eriksson, A. Evans, N. Evetts, J. Fajans, T. Friesen,  M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, C.A. Isaac, A. Ishida, M.A. Johnson, S.A. Jones, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, M. Mathers, D.  Maxwell, J.T.K. McKenna, S.Menary, J.M. Michan, T. Momose J.J. Munich, P. Nolan, K.  Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C.Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, R.L. Sacramento, M. Sameed, E.  Sarid, D.M. Silveira, G. Stutter, C. So, T.D. Tharp, J.E. Thompson, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, published online in Nature, December 2016.

In the news!

An improved limit on the charge of antihydrogen from stochastic acceleration

Antimatter continues to intrigue physicists because of its apparent absence in the observable Universe. Current theory requires that matter and antimatter appeared in equal quantities after the Big Bang, but the Standard Model of particle physics offers no quantitative explanation for the apparent disappearance of half the Universe. It has recently become possible to study trapped atoms of antihydrogen to search for possible, as yet unobserved, differences in the physical behaviour of matter and antimatter. Here we consider the charge neutrality of the antihydrogen atom. By applying stochastic acceleration to trapped antihydrogen atoms, we determine an experimental bound on the antihydrogen charge, Qe, of |Q|< 0.71 parts per billion (one standard deviation), in which e is the elementary charge. This bound is a factor of 20 less than that determined from the best previous measurement of the antihydrogen charge. The electrical charge of atoms and molecules of normal matter is known to be no greater than about 10−21e for a diverse range of species including H2, He and SF6. Charge– parity–time symmetry and quantum anomaly cancellation demand that the charge of antihydrogen be similarly small. Thus, our measurement constitutes an improved limit and a test of fundamental aspects of the Standard Model. If we assume charge superposition and use the best measured value of the antiproton charge , then we can place a new limit on the positron charge anomaly (the relative difference between the positron and elementary charge) of about one part per billion (one standard deviation), a 25-fold reduction compared to the current best measurement

M. Ahmadi , M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. Carruth, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, A. E. Charman, S. Eriksson, L. T. Evans, N. Evetts, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, C. A. Isaac, A. Ishida, S. A. Jones, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, D. Maxwell, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, J. M. Michan, T. Momose, J. J. Munich, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, R. L. Sacramento, M. Sameed, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, T. D. Tharp, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf,  J. S. Wurtele & A. I. Zhmoginov Nature 529, 373–376 (2016)

Physics with antihydrogen

Performing measurements of the properties of antihydrogen, the bound state of an antiproton and a positron, and comparing the results with those for ordinary hydrogen, has long been seen as a route to test some of the fundamental principles of physics. There has been much experimental progress in this direction in recent years, and antihydrogen is now routinely created and trapped and a range of exciting measurements probing the foundations of modern physics are planned or underway. In this contribution we review the techniques developed to facilitate the capture and manipulation of positrons and antiprotons, along with procedures to bring them together to create antihydrogen. Once formed, the antihydrogen has been detected by its destruction via annihilation or field ionization, and aspects of the methodologies involved are summarized. Magnetic minimum neutral atom traps have been employed to allow some of the antihydrogen created to be held for considerable periods. We describe such devices, and their implementation, along with the cusp magnetic trap used to produce the first evidence for a low-energy beam of antihydrogen. The experiments performed to date on antihydrogen are discussed, including the first observation of a resonant quantum transition and the analyses that have yielded a limit on the electrical neutrality of the anti-atom and placed crude bounds on its gravitational behaviour. Our review concludes with an outlook, including the new ELENA extension to the antiproton decelerator facility at CERN, together with summaries of how we envisage the major threads of antihydrogen physics will progress in the coming years.

W.A. Bertsche, E. Butler, M. Charlton and N. Madsen, Jour. Phys. B 48, 231001 (2015)

An experimental limit on the charge of antihydrogen

The properties of antihydrogen are expected to be identical to those of hydrogen, and any differences would constitute a profound challenge to the fundamental theories of physics. The most commonly discussed antiatom-based tests of these theories are searches for antihydrogen-hydrogen spectral differences (tests of CPT (charge-parity-time) invariance) or gravitational differences (tests of the weak equivalence principle). Here we, the ALPHA Collaboration, report a different and somewhat unusual test of CPT and of quantum anomaly cancellation. A retrospective analysis of the influence of electric fields on antihydrogen atoms released from the ALPHA trap finds a mean axial deflection of 4.1±3.4 mm for an average axial electric field of 0.51 V mm−1. Combined with extensive numerical modelling, this measurement leads to a bound on the charge Qe of antihydrogen of Q=(−1.3±1.1±0.4) × 10−8. Here, e is the unit charge, and the errors are from statistics and systematic effects.

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, C. A. Isaac, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, S. C. Napoli, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, C.Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, T. D. Tharp, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, Z. Vendeiro, J. S. Wurtele, A. I. Zhmoginov,  A. E. Charman, Nature Communications 5, 3955 (2014)

In situ electromagnetic field diagnostics with an electron plasma in a Penning–Malmberg trap

We demonstrate a novel detection method for the cyclotron resonance frequency of an electron plasma in a Penning–Malmberg trap. With this technique, the electron plasma is used as an in situ diagnostic tool for the measurement of the static magnetic field and the microwave electric field in the trap. The cyclotron motion of the electron plasma is excited by microwave radiation and the temperature change of the plasma is measured non-destructively by monitoring the plasma’s quadrupole mode frequency. The spatially resolved microwave electric field strength can be inferred from the plasma temperature change and the magnetic field is found through the cyclotron resonance frequency. These measurements were used extensively in the recently reported demonstration of resonant quantum interactions with antihydrogen.

C Amole, M D Ashkezari, M Baquero-Ruiz, W Bertsche, E Butler, A Capra, C L Cesar, M Charlton, A Deller, N Evetts, S Eriksson, J Fajans, T Friesen, M C Fujiwara, D R Gill, A Gutierrez, J S Hangst, W N Hardy, M E Hayden, C A Isaac, S Jonsell, L Kurchaninov, A Little, N Madsen, J T K McKenna, S Menary, S C Napoli, K Olchanski, A Olin, P Pusa, C Ø Rasmussen, F Robicheaux, E Sarid, D M Silveira, C So, S Stracka, T Tharp, R I Thompson, D P van der Werf, J S Wurtele, New J. Phys. 16 (2014) 013037.

The ALPHA antihydrogen trapping apparatus

The ALPHA collaboration, based at CERN, has recently succeeded in confining cold antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic minimum neutral atom trap and has performed the first study of a resonant transition of the anti-atoms. The ALPHA apparatus will be described herein, with emphasis on the structural aspects, diagnostic methods and techniques that have enabled antihydrogen trapping and experimentation to be achieved.

C. Amole, G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, A. Capra, P.T. Carpenter, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson,J. Escallier, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, J.L. Hurt, R. Hydomako, C.A. Isaac, M.J. Jenkins, S. Jonsell, L.V. Jørgensen, S.J. Kerrigan, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, A. Marone, J.T.K. McKenna, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, B. Parker, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. Seddon, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, J. Thornhill, D. Wells, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, Y. Yamazaki, ALPHA Collaboration,

Nonlinear dynamics of anti-hydrogen in magnetostatic traps: implications for gravitational measurements

The influence of gravity on anti-hydrogen dynamics in magnetic traps is studied. The advantages and disadvantages of various techniques for measuring the ratio of the gravitational mass to the inertial mass of anti-hydrogen are discussed. Theoretical considerations and numerical simulations indicate that stochasticity may be especially important for some experimental techniques in vertically oriented traps.

A. I. Zhmoginov, A. E. Charman, R. Shalloo, J. Fajans and J. S. Wurtele, Class. Quantum Grav. 30, 205014 (2013)

Autoresonant-spectrometric determination of the residual gas composition in the ALPHA experiment apparatus

Knowledge of the residual gas composition in the ALPHA experiment apparatus is important in our studies of antihydrogen and nonneutral plasmas. A technique based on autoresonant ion extraction from an electrostaticpotential well has been developed that enables the study of the vacuum in our trap. Computer simulations allow an interpretation of our measurements and provide the residual gas composition under operating conditions typical of those used in experiments to produce, trap, and study antihydrogen. The methods developed may also be applicable in a range of atomic and molecular trap experiments where Penning-Malmberg traps are used and where access is limited.

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy M. E. Hayden, C. A. Isaac, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, S. C. Napoli, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, S. Stracka, C. So, R. I. Thompson, M. Turner, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, A. Zhmoginov, Review of Scientific Instruments84, 065110 (2013)

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Description and first application of a new technique to measure the gravitational mass of antihydrogen

Physicists have long wondered whether the gravitational interactions between matter and antimatter might be different from those between matter and itself. Although there are many indirect indications that no such differences exist and that the weak equivalence principle holds, there have been no direct, free-fall style, experimental tests of gravity on antimatter.
Here we describe a novel direct test methodology; we search for a propensity for antihydrogen atoms to fall downward when released from the ALPHA antihydrogen trap. In the absence of systematic errors, we can reject ratios of the gravitational to inertial mass of antihydrogen <75 at a statistical significance level of 5%; worst-case systematic errors increase the minimum rejection ratio to 110. A similar search places somewhat tighter bounds on a negative gravitational mass, that is, on antigravity. This methodology, coupled with ongoing experimental improvements, should allow us to bound the ratio within the more interesting near equivalence regime.

C. Amole, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C.L. Cesar, M. Charlton, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, C.A. Isaac, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J.T.K. McKenna, S. Menary, S.C. Napoli, P. Nolan, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C.Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, A.I. Zhmoginov, A.E. Charman, Nature Communications 4, 1785 (2013)

Experimental and computational study of the injection of antiprotons into a positron plasma for antihydrogen production

One of the goals of synthesizing and trapping antihydrogen is to study the validity of charge-parity–time symmetry through precision spectroscopy on the anti-atoms, but the trapping yield achieved in recent experiments must be significantly improved before this can be realized. Antihydrogen atoms are commonly produced by mixing antiprotons and positrons stored in a nested Penning-Malmberg trap, which was achieved in ALPHA by an autoresonant excitation of the antiprotons, injecting them into the positron plasma. In this work, a hybrid numerical model is developed to simulate antiproton and positron dynamics during the mixing process. The simulation is benchmarked against other numerical and analytic models, as well as experimental measurements. The autoresonant injection scheme and an alternative scheme are compared numerically over a range of plasma parameters which can be reached in current and upcoming antihydrogen experiments, and the latter scheme is seen to offer significant improvement in trapping yield as the number of available antiprotons increases.

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, C. A. Isaac, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, S. C. Napoli, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, C. R. Shields, D. M. Silveira, C. So, S. Stracka, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, A. Zhmoginov, (ALPHA collaboration), and L. Friedland, Physics of Plasmas 20, 043510 (2013)

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Antihydrogen annihilation reconstruction with the ALPHA silicon detector

The ALPHA experiment has succeeded in trapping antihydrogen, a major milestone on the road to spectroscopic comparisons of antihydrogen with hydrogen. An annihilation vertex detector, which determines the time and position of antiproton annihilations, has been central to this achievement. This detector, an array of double-sided silicon microstrip detector modules arranged in three concentric cylindrical tiers, is sensitive to the passage of charged particles resulting from antiproton annihilation. This article describes the method used to reconstruct the annihilation location and to distinguish the annihilation signal from the cosmic ray background. Recent experimental results using this detector are outlined.

G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, R.S. Hayano, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, E. Sarid, S. Seif el Nasri, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, Y. Yamazaki, Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A, 684 73-81 (2012)

Resonant quantum transitions in trapped antihydrogen atoms

The hydrogen atom is one of the most important and influential model systems in modern physics. Attempts to understand its spectrum are inextricably linked to the early history and development of quantum mechanics. The hydrogen atom’s stature lies in its simplicity and in the accuracy with which its spectrum can be measured1 and compared to theory. Today its spectrum remains a valuable tool for determining the values of fundamental constants and for challenging the limits of modern physics, including the validity of quantum electrodynamics and—by comparison with measurements on its antimatter counterpart, antihydrogen—the validity of CPT (charge conjugation, parity and time reversal) symmetry. Here we report spectroscopy of a pure antimatter atom, demonstrating resonant quantum transitions in antihydrogen. We have manipulated the internal spin state2, 3 of antihydrogen atoms so as to induce magnetic resonance transitions between hyperfine levels of the positronic ground state. We used resonant microwave radiation to flip the spin of the positron in antihydrogen atoms that were magnetically trapped4, 5, 6 in the ALPHA apparatus. The spin flip causes trapped anti-atoms to be ejected from the trap. We look for evidence of resonant interaction by comparing the survival rate of trapped atoms irradiated with microwaves on-resonance to that of atoms subjected to microwaves that are off-resonance. In one variant of the experiment, we detect 23 atoms that survive in 110 trapping attempts with microwaves off-resonance (0.21 per attempt), and only two atoms that survive in 103 attempts with microwaves on-resonance (0.02 per attempt). We also describe the direct detection of the annihilation of antihydrogen atoms ejected by the microwaves.

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, A. Deller, P. H. Donnan, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, C. A. Isaac, S. Jonsell,L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, S. C. Napoli, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, C. R. Shields, D. M. Silveira,S. Stracka, C. So, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf  J. S. Wurtele, Resonant quantum transitions in trapped antihydrogen atoms, Nature 483, 439 (2012)

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Discriminating between antihydrogen and mirror-trapped antiprotons in a minimum-B trap

Recently, antihydrogen atoms were trapped at CERN in a magnetic minimum (minimum-B) trap formed by superconducting octupole and mirror magnet coils. The trapped antiatoms were detected by rapidly turning off these magnets, thereby eliminating the magnetic minimum and releasing any antiatoms contained in the trap. Once released, these antiatoms quickly hit the trap wall, whereupon the positrons and antiprotons in the antiatoms annihilate. The antiproton annihilations produce easily detected signals; we used these signals to prove that we trapped antihydrogen. However, our technique could be confounded by mirror-trapped antiprotons, which would produce seemingly identical annihilation signals upon hitting the trap wall. In this paper, we discuss possible sources of mirror-trapped antiprotons and show that antihydrogen and antiprotons can be readily distinguished, often with the aid of applied electric fields, by analyzing the annihilation locations and times. We further discuss the general properties of antiproton and antihydrogen trajectories in this magnetic geometry, and reconstruct the antihydrogen energy distribution from the measured annihilation time history.

C. Amole, G. B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, L. Kurchaninov, S. Jonsell, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf & J. S. Wurtele  (ALPHA) New Journal of Physics, 14, 105010 (2012)

Confinement of antihydrogen for 1,000 seconds

Atoms made of a particle and an antiparticle are unstable, usually surviving less than a microsecond. Antihydrogen, made entirely of antiparticles, is believed to be stable, and it is this longevity that holds the promise of precision studies of matter–antimatter symmetry. We have recently demonstrated trapping of antihydrogen atoms by releasing them after a confinement time of 172ms. A critical question for future studies is: how long can anti-atoms be trapped? Here, we report the observation of anti-atom confinement for 1,000s, extending our earlier results by nearly four orders of magnitude. Our calculations indicate that most of the trapped anti-atoms reach the ground state. Further, we report the first measurement of the energy distribution of trapped antihydrogen, which, coupled with detailed comparisons with simulations, provides a key tool for the systematic investigation of trapping dynamics. These advances open up a range of experimental possibilities, including precision studies of charge–parity–time reversal symmetry and cooling to temperatures where gravitational effects could become apparent.

G. B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, S. L. Kemp, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele & Y. Yamazaki (ALPHA), Nature Physics, 7, 558 (2011)

Centrifugal Separation and Equilibration Dynamics in an Electron-Antiproton Plasma

Charges in cold, multiple-species, non-neutral plasmas separate radially by mass, forming centrifugally separated states. Here, we report the first detailed measurements of such states in an electron-antiproton plasma, and the first observations of the separation dynamics in any centrifugally separated system. While the observed equilibrium states are expected and in agreement with theory, the equilibration time is approximately constant over a wide range of parameters, a surprising and as yet unexplained result. Electron-antiproton plasmas play a crucial role in antihydrogen trapping experiments.

G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 145001 (2011)

Autoresonant Excitation of Antiproton Plasmas

We demonstrate controllable excitation of the center-of-mass longitudinal motion of a thermal antiproton plasma using a swept-frequency autoresonant drive. When the plasma is cold, dense, and highly collective in nature, we observe that the entire system behaves as a single-particle nonlinear oscillator, as predicted by a recent theory. In contrast, only a fraction of the antiprotons in a warm plasma can be similarly excited. Antihydrogen was produced and trapped by using this technique to drive antiprotons into a positron plasma, thereby initiating atomic recombination.

G.B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, P. T. Carpenter, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, J. L. Hurt, S. Jonsell, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 025002 (2011)

Search for Trapped Antihydrogen

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 1.3×109 positrons to produce 6×105 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.

G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C.C. Bray, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov , R. Lambo, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, D. Wilding, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Lett. B 695, 95 (2011)

Trapped antihydrogen

Antimatter was first predicted 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 produced 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 transition), 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 antimatter. 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.

G. B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, S. Jonsell, L. V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif el Nasr, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele and Y. Yamazaki, Nature 468, 673 (2010

Cold antihydrogen: a new frontier in fundamental physics

The year 2002 heralded a breakthrough in antimatter research when the first low energy antihydrogen atoms were produced. Antimatter has inspired both science and fiction writers for many years, but detailed studies have until now eluded science. Antimatter is notoriously difficult to study as it does not readily occur in nature, even though our current understanding of the laws of physics have us expecting that it should make up half of the universe. The pursuit of cold antihydrogen is driven by a desire to solve this profound mystery. This paper will motivate the current effort to make cold antihydrogen, explain how antihydrogen is currently made, and how and why we are attempting to trap it. It will also discuss what kind of measurements are planned to gain new insights into the unexplained asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe.

N. Madsen, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A 368, 3671 (2010)

Evaporative Cooling of Antiprotons to Cryogenic Temperatures

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.

G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, D. Wilding, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 013003 (2010)

Antihydrogen formation dynamics in a multipolar neutral anti-atom trap

Antihydrogen production in a neutral atom trap formed by an octupole-based magnetic field minimum is demonstrated using field-ionization of weakly bound anti-atoms. Using our unique annihilation imaging detector, we correlate antihydrogen detection by imaging and by field-ionization for the first time. We further establish how field-ionization causes radial redistribution of the antiprotons during antihydrogen formation and use this effect for the first simultaneous measurements of strongly and weakly bound antihydrogen atoms. Distinguishing between these provides critical information needed in the process of optimizing for trappable antihydrogen. These observations are of crucial importance to the ultimate goal of performing CPT tests involving antihydrogen, which likely depends upon trapping the anti-atom.

G.B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C. Bray, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, L.V. Jørgensen, S.J. Kerrigan, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Lett. B 685, 141 (2010)

Antiproton, positron, and electron imaging with a microchannel plate/phosphor detector

A microchannel plate (MCP)/phosphor screen assembly has been used to destructively measure the radial profile of cold, confined antiprotons, electrons, and positrons in the ALPHA experiment, with the goal of using these trapped particles for antihydrogen creation and confinement. The response of the MCP to low energy (10-200 eV, <1 eV spread) antiproton extractions is compared to that of electrons and positrons.

G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, C. C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, L. V. Jørgensen, S. J. Kerrigan, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. P. Povilus, P. Pusa, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, and Y. Yamazaki, Rev. Sci. Inst. 80, 123701 (2009)

Magnetic multipole induced zero-rotation frequency bounce-resonant loss in a Penning-Malmberg trap used for antihydrogen trapping

In many antihydrogen trapping schemes, antiprotons held in a short-well Penning–Malmberg trap are released into a longer well. This process necessarily causes the bounce-averaged rotation frequency \omegar of the antiprotons around the trap axis to pass through zero. In the presence of a transverse magnetic multipole, experiments and simulations show that many antiprotons (over 30% in some cases) can be lost to a hitherto unidentified bounce-resonant process when \omegar is close to zero.

G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, C. C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, L. V. Jørgensen, S. J. Kerrigan, J. Keller, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Plas. 16, 100702 (2009)

Compression of Antiproton Clouds for Antihydrogen Trapping

Control of the radial profile of trapped antiproton clouds is critical to trapping antihydrogen. We report the first detailed measurements of the radial manipulation of antiproton clouds, including areal density compressions by factors as large as ten, by manipulating spatially overlapped electron plasmas. We show detailed measurements of the near-axis antiproton radial profile and its relation to that of the electron plasma.

G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, C. C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L. V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Rev. Lett 100, 203401 (2008)

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A Novel Antiproton Radial Diagnostic Based on Octupole Indused Ballistic Loss

We report results from a novel diagnostic that probes the outer radial profile of trapped antiproton clouds. The diagnostic allows us to determine the profile by monitoring the time history of antiproton losses that occur as an octupole field in the antiproton confinement region is increased. We show several examples of how this diagnostic helps us to understand the radial dynamics of antiprotons in normal and nested Penning–Malmberg traps. Better understanding of these dynamics may aid current attempts to trap antihydrogen atoms.

G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, C. C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L. V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R. D. Page, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Plasmas 15, 032107 (2008)

Critical Loss Radius in a Penning Trap Subject to Multipole Fields

When particles in a Penning trap are subject to a magnetic multipole field, those beyond a critical radius will be lost. The critical radius depends on the history by which the field is applied, and can be much smaller if the particles are injected into a preexisting multipole than if the particles are subject to a ramped multipole. Both cases are relevant to ongoing experiments designed to trap antihydrogen.

J. Fajans, N. Madsen, and F. Robicheaux, Phys. Plasmas 15, 032108 (2008)

Antihydrogen for precision tests in physics

The creation of atoms of antihydrogen under controlled conditions has opened up a new era in physics with antimatter. We describe the experimental realisation of low energy antihydrogen, via the mixing of carefully prepared clouds of positrons and antiprotons, and some of the progress that has been made in the last few years in characterising properties of the nascent anti-atoms. Ongoing eﬀorts aimed at trapping the anti-atoms in magnetic ﬁeld minima are discussed. Some of the motivations for undertaking experiments with antihydrogen are presented.

M. Charlton, S. Jonsell, L.V. Jørgensen, N. Madsen and D.P. van der Werf, Cont. Phys. 49, 29 (2008)

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Production of Antihydrogen at Reduced Magnetic Field for Anti-atom Trapping

We have demonstrated production of antihydrogen in a 1 T solenoidal magnetic ﬁeld. This ﬁeld strength is signiﬁcantly smaller than that used in the ﬁrst generation experiments ATHENA (3 T) and ATRAP (5 T). The motivation for using a smaller magnetic ﬁeld is to facilitate trapping of antihydrogen atoms in a neutral atom trap surrounding the production region. We report the results of measurements with the Antihydrogen Laser PHysics Apparatus (ALPHA) device, which can capture and cool antiprotons at 3 T, and then mix the antiprotons with positrons at 1 T. We infer antihydrogen production from the time structure of antiproton annihilations during mixing, using mixing with heated positrons as the null experiment, as demonstrated in ATHENA. Implications for antihydrogen trapping are discussed.

G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P. D. Bowe, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, M. Chartier, A. Deutsch, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, K. Gomberoff, J. S. Hangst, R. S. Hayano, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys., 011001 (2008)

Antimatter Plasmas in a Multipole Trap for Antihydrogen

We have demonstrated storage of plasmas of the charged constituents of the antihydrogen atom, antiprotons and positrons, in a Penning trap surrounded by a minimum-B magnetic trap designed for holding neutral antiatoms. The neutral trap comprises a superconducting octupole and two superconducting, solenoidal mirror coils. We have measured the storage lifetimes of antiproton and positron plasmas in the combined Penning-neutral trap, and compared these to lifetimes without the neutral trap ﬁelds. The magnetic well depth was 0.6 T, deep enough to trap ground state antihydrogen atoms of up to about 0.4 K in temperature. We have demonstrated that both particle species can be stored for times long enough to permit antihydrogen production and trapping studies.

G. Andresen, W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P. D. Bowe, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, M. Chartier, A. Deutsch, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, K. Gomberoff, J. S. Hangst, R. S. Hayano, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, H. H. Telle, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 023402 (2007)

A Magnetic Trap for Antihydrogen Confinement

The goal of the ALPHA collaboration at CERN is to test CPT conservation by comparing the 1S–2S transitions of hydrogen and antihydrogen. To reach the ultimate accuracy of 1 part in 1018 , the (anti)atoms must be trapped. Using current technology, only magnetic minimum traps can conﬁne (anti)hydrogen. In this paper, the design of the ALPHA antihydrogen trap and the results of measurements on a prototype system will be presented. The trap depth of the ﬁnal system will be 1.16 T, corresponding to a temperature of 0.78 K for ground state antihydrogen.

W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P.D. Bowe, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, M. Chartier, A. Deutsch, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, K.Gomberoff, J.S. Hangst, R.S. Hayano, M. J. Jenkins, L. V. Jørgensen, P. Ko, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, R.D. Page, L.G.C. Posada, A. Povilus, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, D.P. van der Werf, Y. Yamazaki, B. Parker, J. Escallier, and A. Ghosh, Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. A 566, 746 (2006)

Effects of extreme magnetic quadrupole fields on Penning Traps, and the consequences for antihydrogen trapping

Measurements on electrons conﬁned in a Penning trap show that extreme quadrupole ﬁelds destroy particle conﬁnement. Much of the particle loss comes from the hitherto unrecognized ballistic transport of particles directly into the wall. The measurements scale to the parameter regime used by ATHENA and ATRAP to create antihydrogen, and suggest that quadrupoles cannot be used to trap antihydrogen.

J. Fajans, W. Bertsche, K. Burke, S.F. Chapman and D.P van der Werf,Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 15501 (2005)

Antihydrogen on tap

Plentiful quantities of antihydrogen, the bound state system of the antiparticles the positron and the antiproton, have recently been made under very controlled conditions in experiments at the European Laboratory of Particle Physics (CERN) near Geneva. In this article I describe how that was done, and why.

M. Charlton, Physics Education 40, 229 (2005)

ALPHA collaboration gets antihydrogen in the trap

The ALPHA collaboration has achieved one of the long-stated goals of the physics programme at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator: magnetic trapping of antihydrogen atoms.

J. S. Hangst, Feb 23rd (2011)

Confronting CPT with Cold Trapped Antihydrogen

M. C. Fujiwara, Japan Association of High Energy Physicists, High Energy Physics News 27, pp. 37-46 (2008) (in japanese)

Keeping antihydrogen: the ALPHA trap

Antimatter is difficult to make, let alone store. Jeffrey Hangst describes how ALPHA, an experiment attempting to trap antihydrogen at CERN, overcomes some of the difficulties and he questions the reality of ever making more than the tiniest amounts of antimatter.

J. S. Hangst, July 18th (2007)

Greb om Antibrint

I efteråret 2002 lykkedes det for første gang forskere at fremstille koldt antistof i form af antibrint-atomer. Nu vil forskerne så forsøge at fange disse antiatomer. Men hvordan fanger man noget, der tilintetgøres så snart det kommer i kontakt med almindeligt stof?

N. Madsen, Aktuel Naturvidenskab, nr. 2, 22 (2006)  (in danish)

Probing the antiworld

Half a century since the discovery of the antiproton, and more than 70 years since that of the positron, researchers at CERN can routinely produce millions of antihydrogen atoms. Mike Charlton and Jeffrey Hangstexplain how these remarkable anti-atoms could be our best bet for understanding one of the most fundamental symmetries of nature.

M. Charlton, and J. S. Hangst, Physics World, October, 22 (2005)

Prospects for comparison of matter and antimatter gravitation with ALPHA-g

The ALPHA experiment has recently entered an expansion phase of its experimental programme, driven in part by the expected benefits of conducting experiments in the framework of the new AD + ELENA antiproton facility at CERN. With antihydrogen trapping now a routine operation in the ALPHA experiment, the collaboration is leading progress towards precision atomic measurements on trapped antihydrogen atoms, with the first excitation of the 1S–2S transition and the first measurement of the antihydrogen hyperfine spectrum (Ahmadi et al. 2017 Nature 541, 506–510 (doi:10.1038/nature21040); Nature 548, 66–69 (doi:10.1038/nature23446)). We are building on these successes to extend our physics programme to include a measurement of antimatter gravitation. We plan to expand a proof-of-principle method (Amole et al. 2013 Nat. Commun. 4, 1785 (doi:10.1038/ncomms2787)), first demonstrated in the original ALPHA apparatus, and perform a precise measurement of antimatter gravitational acceleration with the aim of achieving a test of the weak equivalence principle at the 1% level. The design of this apparatus has drawn from a growing body of experience on the simulation and verification of antihydrogen orbits confined within magnetic-minimum atom traps. The new experiment, ALPHA-g, will be an additional atom-trapping apparatus located at the ALPHA experiment with the intention of measuring antihydrogen gravitation.

W. Bertsche,

Precision measurements on trapped antihydrogen in the ALPHA experiment

Both the 1S–2S transition and the ground state hyperfine spectrum have been observed in trapped antihydrogen. The former constitutes the first observation of resonant interaction of light with an anti-atom, and the latter is the first detailed measurement of a spectral feature in antihydrogen. Owing to the narrow intrinsic linewidth of the 1S–2S transition and use of two-photon laser excitation, the transition energy can be precisely determined in both hydrogen and antihydrogen, allowing a direct comparison as a test of fundamental symmetry. The result is consistent with CPT invariance at a relative precision of around 2×10−10. This constitutes the most precise measurement of a property of antihydrogen. The hyperfine spectrum of antihydrogen is determined to a relative uncertainty of 4×10−4. The excited state and the hyperfine spectroscopy techniques currently both show sensitivity at the few 100 kHz level on the absolute scale. Here, the most recent work of the ALPHA collaboration on precision spectroscopy of antihydrogen is presented together with an outlook on improving the precision of measurements involving lasers and microwave radiation. Prospects of measuring the Lamb shift and determining the antiproton charge radius in trapped antihydrogen in the ALPHA apparatus are presented. Future perspectives of precision measurements of trapped antihydrogen in the ALPHA apparatus when the ELENA facility becomes available to experiments at CERN are discussed.

S. Eriksson,

Antiproton physics in the ELENA era

The programme of physics with low-energy antiprotons at CERN, the European Particle Physics Laboratory, has a long history, beginning with the inauguration of the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) in 1982. That machine produced antiprotons decelerated to kinetic energies of a few MeV, an achievement made possible due to advances in techniques that enabled cooling of charged particles held in storage rings. Pioneering experiments to trap and cool antiprotons to meV energies were carried out at LEAR and a landmark achievement was reached in 1995, when the first nine atoms of antihydrogen were observed by the PS210 experiment.

This article introduces the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Antiproton physics in the ELENA era’.

Antiproton cloud compression in the ALPHA apparatus at CERN

We have observed a new mechanism for compression of a non-neutral plasma, where antiprotons embedded in an electron plasma are compressed by a rotating wall drive at a frequency close to the sum of the axial bounce and rotation frequencies. The radius of the antiproton cloud is reduced by up to a factor of 20 and the smallest radius measured is ∼ 0.2 mm. When the rotating wall drive is applied to either a pure electron or pure antiproton plasma, no compression is observed in the frequency range of interest. The frequency range over which compression is evident is compared to the sum of the antiproton bounce frequency and the system’s rotation frequency. It is suggested that bounce resonant transport is a likely explanation for the compression of antiproton clouds in this regime.

A. Gutierrez, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, C. Burrows, E. Butler, A. Capra, C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton, R. Dunlop, S. Eriksson, N. Evetts, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, C. A. Isaac, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, A. Little, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, S. C. Napoli, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, R. L. Sacramento, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, S. Stracka, J. Tarlton, T. D. Tharp, R. I. Thompson, P. Tooley, M. Turner, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, A. I. Zhmoginov,  Proceedings of TCP 2014, Hyperfine Interactions 235:21 (2015).

Silicon vertex detector upgrade in the ALPHA experiment

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.

C Amole, G. B. Andresen, M D Ashkezari, M Baquero-Ruiz, C Burrows, W Bertsche, E Butler, A Capra, C L Cesar, S Chapman, M Charlton, A Deller, S Eriksson, J Fajans, T Friesen, M C Fujiwara, D R Gill, A Gutierrez, J S Hangst, W N Hardy, M E Hayden, A J Humphries, A Isaac, S Jonsell, L Kurchaninov, A Little, N Madsen , J T K McKenna , S Menary, S C Napoli, P Nolan, K Olchanski, A Olin, A Povilus, P Pusa, C Ø Ramussen , F Robicheaux, R L Sacramento, S Stracka, J Sampson , E Sarid, D Seddon, D M Silveira, C So, R I Thompson, T Tharp, J Thornhill, P Tooley, D P van der Werf, D Wells, J S Wurtele, Nucl. Inst. Method in Phys. Res. A 732 134-136 (2013).

Evaporative cooling of antiprotons for the production of trappable antihydrogen

We describe the implementation of evaporative cooling of charged particles in the ALPHA apparatus. Forced evaporation has been applied to cold samples of antiprotons held in Malmberg-Penning traps. Temperatures on the order of 10 K were obtained, while retaining a significant fraction of the initial number of particles. We have developed a model for the evaporation process based on simple rate equations and applied it succesfully to the experimental data. We have also observed radial re-distribution of the clouds following evaporation, explained by simple conservation laws. We discuss the relevance of this technique for the recent demonstration of magnetic trapping of antihydrogen.

Silveira, D. M., Andresen, G. B., Ashkezari, M. D., Baquero-Ruiz, M., Bertsche, W., Bowe, P. D., Butler, E., Cesar, C. L., Chapman, S., Charlton, M., Fajans, J., Friesen, T., Fujiwara, M. C., Gill, D. R., Hangst, J. S., Hardy, W. N., Hayden, M. E., Hydomako, R., Jonsell, S., Kurchaninov, L., Madsen, N., Menary, S., Nolan, P., Olchanski, K., Olin, A., Povilus, A., Pusa, P., Robicheaux, F., Sarid, E., So, C., Storey, J. W., Thompson, R. I., van der Werf, D. P., Wurtele, J. S., AIP Conf. Proc. 1521, 165 (2013)

Electron plasmas as a diagnostic tool for hyperfine spectroscopy of antihydrogen

Long term magnetic confinement of antihydrogen atoms has recently been demonstrated by the ALPHA collaboration at CERN, opening the door to a range of experimental possibilities. Of particular interest is a measurement of the antihydrogen spectrum. A precise comparison of the spectrum of antihydrogen with that of hydrogen would be an excellent test of CPT symmetry. One prime candidate for precision CPT tests is the ground-state hyperfine transition, measured in hydrogen to a precision of nearly one part in 1012. Effective execution of such an experiment with trapped antihydrogen requires precise knowledge of the magnetic environment. Here we present a solution that uses an electron plasma confined in the antihydrogen trapping region. The cyclotron resonance of the electron plasma is probed with microwaves at the cyclotron frequency and the subsequent heating of the electron plasma is measured through the plasma quadrupole mode frequency. Using this method, the minimum magnetic field of the neutral trap can be determined to within 4 parts in 104. This technique was used extensively in the recent demonstration of resonant interaction with the hyperfine levels of trapped antihydrogen atoms.

Friesen, T., Amole, C., Ashkezari, M. D., Baquero-Ruiz, M., Bertsche, W., Bowe, P. D., Butler, E., Capra, A., Cesar, C. L., Charlton, M., Deller, A., Evetts, N., Eriksson, S., Fajans, J., Fujiwara, M. C., Gill, D. R., Gutierrez, A., Hangst, J. S., Hardy, W. N., Hayden, M. E., Isaac, C. A., Jonsell, S., Kurchaninov, L., Little, A., Madsen, N., McKenna, J. T. K., Menary, S., Napoli, S. C., Olchanski, K., Olin, A., Pusa, P., Rasmussen, C. Ø., Robicheaux, F., Sarid, E., Silveira, D. M., So, C., Stracka, S., Thompson, R. I., van der Werf, D. P., Wurtele, J. S., AIP Conf. Proc. 1521, 123 (2013)

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Antihydrogen formation by autoresonant excitation of antiproton plasmas

In efforts to trap antihydrogen, a key problem is the vast disparity between the neutral trap energy scale (∼ 50 μeV), and the energy scales associated with plasma confinement and space charge (∼ 1 eV). In order to merge charged particle species for direct recombination, the larger energy scale must be overcome in a manner that minimizes the initial antihydrogen kinetic energy. This issue motivated the development of a novel injection technique utilizing the inherent nonlinear nature of particle oscillations in our traps. We demonstrated controllable excitation of the center-of-mass longitudinal motion of a thermal antiproton plasma using a swept-frequency autoresonant drive. When the plasma is cold, dense and highly collective in nature, we observe that the entire system behaves as a single-particle nonlinear oscillator, as predicted by a recent theory. In contrast, only a fraction of the antiprotons in a warm or tenuous plasma can be similarly excited.
Antihydrogen was produced and trapped by using this technique to drive antiprotons into a positron plasma, thereby initiating atomic recombination. The nature of this injection overcomes some of the difficulties associated with matching the energies of the charged species used to produce antihydrogen.

Bertsche, W. A., Andresen, G. B., Ashkezari, M. D., Baquero-Ruiz, M., Bowe, P. D., Carpenter, P. T., Butler, E., Cesar, C. L., Chapman, S. F., Charlton, M., Eriksson, S., Fajans, J., Friesen, T., Fujiwara, M. C., Gill, D. R., Gutierrez, A., Hangst, J. S., Hardy, W. N., Hayano, R. S., Hayden, M. E., Humphries, A. J., Hurt, J. L., Hydomako, R., Jonsell, S., Kurchaninov, L., Madsen, N., Menary, S., Nolan, P., Olchanski, K., Olin, A., Povilus, A., Pusa, P., Robicheaux, F., Sarid, E., Silveira, D. M., So, C., Storey, J. W., Thompson, R. I., Werf, D. P. van der, Wurtele, J. S., Yamazaki, Y. Hyp. Int. 212, 61 (2012)

Alternative method for reconstruction of antihydrogen annihilation vertices

C. Amole, M. D. Ashkezari, G. B. Andresen , M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van derWerf, J. S. Wurtele, Y. Yamazaki (ALPHA) Hyperfine Int., published online  (2012)

The ALPHA experiment, located at CERN, aims to compare the properties of antihydrogen atoms with those of hydrogen atoms. The neutral antihydrogen atoms are trapped using an octupole magnetic trap. The trap region is surrounded by a three layered silicon detector used to reconstruct the antiproton annihilation vertices. This paper describes a method we have devised that can be used for reconstructing annihilation vertices with a good resolution and is more efficient than the standard method currently used for the same purpose.

Progress towards microwave spectroscopy of trapped antihydrogen

Precision comparisons of hyperfine intervals in atomic hydrogen and antihydrogen are expected to yield experimental tests of the CPT theorem. The CERN-based ALPHA collaboration has initiated a program of study focused on microwave spectroscopy of trapped ground-state antihydrogen atoms. This paper outlines some of the proposed experiments, and summarizes measurements that characterize microwave fields that have been injected into the ALPHA apparatus.

M.D. Ashkezari, G.B. Andresen, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, Y. Yamazaki, Proceedings of the 10th conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics, Hyp. Int. (published online) 2011.

Trapped Antihydrogen

Precision spectroscopic comparison of hydrogen and antihydrogen holds the promise of a sensitive test of the Charge-Parity-Time theorem and matter-antimatter equivalence. The clearest path towards realising this goal is to hold a sample of antihydrogen in an atomic trap for interrogation by electromagnetic radiation. Achieving this poses a huge experimental challenge, as state-of-the-art magnetic-minimum atom traps have well depths of only ∼ 1 T (∼ 0.5 K for ground state antihydrogen atoms). The atoms annihilate on contact with matter and must be ‘born’ inside the magnetic trap with low kinetic energies. At the ALPHA experiment, antihydrogen atoms are produced from antiprotons and positrons stored in the form of non-neutral plasmas, where the typical electrostatic potential energy per particle is on the order of electronvolts, more than 104 times the maximum trappable kinetic energy.

In November 2010, ALPHA published the observation of 38 antiproton annihilations due to antihydrogen atoms that had been trapped for at least 172 ms and then released – the first instance of a purely antimatter atomic system confined for any length of time [1]. We present a description of the main components of the ALPHA traps and detectors that were key to realising this result. We discuss how the antihydrogen atoms were identified and how they were discriminated from the background processes.

Since the results published in [1], refinements in the antihydrogen production technique have allowed many more antihydrogen atoms to be trapped, and held for much longer times. We have identified antihydrogen atoms that have been trapped for at least 1,000 s in the apparatus [2]. This is more than sufficient time to interrogate the atoms spectroscopically, as well as to ensure that they have relaxed to their ground state.

E. Butler, G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M.C. Fujiwara, D.R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, S. Jonsell, L.V. Jørgensen, S.L. Kemp, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, C. Ø. Rasmussen, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif el Nasr, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, Y. Yamazaki, Proceedings of the 10th conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics, Hyp. Int. (published online) 2011.

Towards antihydrogen trapping and spectroscopy at ALPHA

Spectroscopy of antihydrogen has the potential to yield high-precision tests of the CPT theorem and shed light on the matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe. The ALPHA antihydrogen trap at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator aims to prepare a sample of antihydrogen atoms confined in an octupole-based Ioffe trap and to measure the frequency of several atomic transitions. We describe our techniques to directly measure the antiproton temperature and a new technique to cool them to below 10 K. We also show how our unique position-sensitive annihilation detector provides us with a highly sensitive method of identifying antiproton annihilations and effectively rejecting the cosmic-ray background.

Butler, E., Andresen, G. B., Ashkezari, M. D., Baquero-Ruiz, M., Bertsche, W., Bowe, P. D., Bray, C. C., Cesar, C. L., Chapman, S., Charlton, M., Fajans, J., Friesen, T., Fujiwara, M. C., Gill, D. R., Hangst, J. S., Hardy, W. N., Hayano, R. S., Hayden, M. E., Humphries, A. J., Hydomako, R., Jonsell, S., Kurchaninov, L., Lambo, R., Madsen, N., Menary, S., Nolan, P., Olchanski, K., Olin, A., Povilus, A., Pusa, P., Robicheaux, F., Sarid, E., Silveira, D. M., So, C., Storey, J. W., Thompson, R. I., van der Werf, D. P., Wilding, D., Wurtele, J. S., Yamazaki, Y.,  the Proceedings of TCP 2010, Hyperfine Interactions 199: 39 (2011).

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Search for trapped antihydrogen in ALPHA

N. Madsen, G. B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L. V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Can. Jour. Phys. 89, 7 (2011)

Antihydrogen Physics at ALPHA/CERN

C. L. Cesar, G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, C. C. Bray, E. Butler, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M. C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L. V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R. D. Page, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D. M. Silveira, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Can. J. Phys. 87, 791 (2009)

Towards Trapped Antihydrogen

Substantial progress has been made in the last few years in the nascent ﬁeld of antihydrogen physics. The next big step forward is expected to be the trapping of the formed antihydrogen atoms using a magnetic multipole trap. ALPHA is a new international project that started to take data in 2006 at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator facility. The primary goal of ALPHA is stable trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms to facilitate measurements of its properties. We discuss the status of the ALPHA project and the prospects for antihydrogen trapping.

L.V. Jørgensen, G. Andresen, W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P.D. Bowe, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, R.S. Hayano, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R.D. Page, A. Povilus, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Nucl. Instr. Meth. Phys. Res. B 266 , 357 (2008)

Towards Antihydrogen Confinement With The ALPHA Antihydrogen Trap

ALPHA is an international project that has recently begun experimentation at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility. The primary goal of ALPHA is stable trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms with the ultimate goal of precise spectroscopic comparisons with hydrogen. We discuss the status of the ALPHA project and the prospects for antihydrogen trapping.

M. C. Fujiwara, G. Andresen, W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P. D. Bowe, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, M. Chartier, A. Deutsch, J. Fajans, R. Funakoshi, D. R. Gill, K. Gomberoff, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, R. S. Hayano, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R. D. Page, A. Povilus, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D. M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Hyp. Int. 172, 81 (2007)

The ALPHA detector: Module Production and Assembly

ALPHA is one of the experiments situated at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator (AD). A Silicon Vertex Detector (SVD) is placed to surround the ALPHA atom trap. The main purpose of the SVD is to detect and locate antiproton annihilation events by means of the emitted charged pions. The SVD system is presented with special focus given to the design, fabrication and performance of the modules.

G. B. Andresen, M. D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, P. D. Bowe, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, A. Deller, S. Eriksson, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, M. C. Fujiwara, D. R. Gill, A. Gutierrez, J. S. Hangst, W. N. Hardy, M. E. Hayden, A. J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M. J. Jenkins, S. Jonsell, L. V. JØrgensen, L. Kurchaninov, N. Madsen, J. T. K. McKenna, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, J. Sampson, E. Sarid, D. Seddon, S. Seif el Nasr, D. M. Silveira, C. So, J. W. Storey, R. I. Thompson, J. Thornhill, D. Wells, D. P. van der Werf, J. S. Wurtele, Y. Yamazaki, JINST 7 C01051 (2011)

ALPHA Antihydrogen Experiment

ALPHA is an experiment at CERN, whose ultimate goal is to perform a precise test of CPT symmetry with trapped antihydrogen atoms. After reviewing the motivations, we discuss our recent progress toward the initial goal of stable trapping of antihydrogen, with some emphasis on particle detection techniques.

M.C. Fujiwara, G.B. Andresen, M.D. Ashkezari, M. Baquero-Ruiz, W. Bertsche, C.C. Bray, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, C.L. Cesar, J. Fajans, T. Friesen, D.R. Gill J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, S. Jonsell, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, S. Menary, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, D.M. Silveira, C. So, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, D. Wilding, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, To be published in the proceedings of CPT10 – 5th meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry (2010)

Control of the radial proﬁle of trapped antiproton clouds is critical to trapping antihydrogen. We report detailed measurements of the radial manipulation of antiproton clouds, including areal density compressions by factors as large as ten, achieved by manipulating spatially overlapped electron plasmas. We show detailed measurements of the near-axis antiproton radial proﬁle, and its relation to that of the electron plasma. We also measure the outer radial proﬁle by ejecting antiprotons to the trap wall using an octupole magnet.

G.B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C.C. Bray, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R.D. Page, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele and Y. Yamazaki, AIP Conf. Proceed. 1037, 96 (2008)

Particle Physics Aspects of Antihydrogen Studies with ALPHA at CERN

We discuss aspects of antihydrogen studies, that relate to particle physics ideas and techniques, within the context of the ALPHA experiment at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator facility. We review the fundamental physics motivations for antihydrogen studies, and their potential physics reach. We argue that initial spectroscopy measurements, once antihydrogen is trapped, could provide competitive tests of CPT, possibly probing physics at the Planck Scale. We discuss some of the particle detection techniques used in ALPHA. Preliminary results from commissioning studies of a partial system of the ALPHA Si vertex detector are presented, the results of which highlight the power of annihilation vertex detection capability in antihydrogen studies.

M.C. Fujiwara, G. B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C.C. Bray, E. Butler, C. L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, R. Funakoshi, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, W. Lai, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, L. Wasilenko, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, AIP Conf. Proceed. 1037, 208 (2008)

First Attempts at Antihydrogen Trapping in ALPHA

The ALPHA apparatus is designed to produce and trap antihydrogen atoms. The device comprises a multifunction Penning trap and a superconducting, neutral atom trap having a minimum-B conﬁguration. The atom trap features an octupole magnet for transverse conﬁnement and solenoidal mirror coils for longitudinal conﬁnement. The magnetic trap employs a fast shutdown system to maximize the probability of detecting the annihilation of released antihydrogen. In this article we describe the ﬁrst attempts to observe antihydrogen trapping.

G.B. Andresen, W. Bertsche, P.D. Bowe, C.C. Bray, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, A.J. Humphries, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, R. Lambo, N. Madsen, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, R.D. Page, A. Povilus, P. Pusa, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van derWerf, J.S. Wurtele and Y. Yamazaki, AIP Conf. Proceed. 1037, 241 (2008)

The ALPHA Antihydrogen Experiment

ALPHA is a new experiment at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD). The short term goal of ALPHA is trapping of cold antihydrogen, with the long term goal of conducting precise spectroscopic comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen. Here we present the current status of ALPHA and the physics considerations and results leading to its design as well as recent progress towards trapping.

N. Madsen, G. Andresen, W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P.D. Bowe, E. Butler, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D.R. Gill, J.S. Hangst, W.N. Hardy, R.S. Hayano, M.E. Hayden, R. Hydomako, M.J. Jenkins, L.V. Jørgensen, L. Kurchaninov, P. Nolan, K. Olchanski, A. Olin, A. Povilus, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, S. Seif El Nasr, D.M. Silveira, J.W. Storey, R.I. Thompson, D.P. van der Werf, J.S. Wurtele, and Y. Yamazaki, Proc. Fourth Meeting on CPT and Lorentz Symmetry (Bloomington, Indiana, August 2007), World Scientific, 143 (2007)

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Simple loss scaling laws for quadrupoles and higher-order multipoles used in antihydrogen traps

Simple scaling laws strongly suggest that for antihydrogen relevant parameters, quadrupole magnetic fields will transport particles into, or near to, the trap walls. Consequently quadrupoles are a poor choice for antihydrogen trapping. Higher order multipoles lead to much less transport.

J. Fajans, W. Bertsche, K. Burke, A. Deutsch, S. F. Chapman, K. Gomberoff, D. P. van der Werf, and J. S. Wurtele, in NON-NEUTRAL PLASMA PHYSICS VI: Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas 2006 (American Institute of Physics, New York, 2006), AIP vol. 862, p. 176 (2006)

Antihydrogen from merged plasmas - cold enough to trap?

The merging of antiprotons with a positron plasma is the predominant and highest efﬁcient method for cold antihydrogen formation used to date [1, 2, 3]. We present experimental evidence that this method has serious disadvantages for producing antihydrogen cold enough to be trapped [4, 5]. Antihydrogen is neutral but may be trapped in a magnetic ﬁeld minimum. However, the depth of such traps are of order 1 K, shallow compared to the kinetic energies in current antihydrogen experiments. Studying the spatial distribution of the antihydrogen emerging from the ATHENA positron plasma we have, by comparison with a simple model, extracted information about the temperature of the antihydrogen formed. We ﬁnd that antihydrogen is formed before thermal equilibrium is attained between the antiprotons and the positrons, and thus that further positron cooling may not be sufﬁcient for producing antihydrogen cold enough to be trapped [5]. We discuss the implications for trapping of antihydrogen in a magnetic trap, important for ongoing work by the ALPHA collaboration [6].

N. Madsen, (ALPHA and ATHENA collaborations) in NON-NEUTRAL PLASMA PHYSICS VI: Workshop on Non-Neutral Plasmas 2006 (American Institute of Physics, New York, 2006), AIP vol. 862, p. 164 (2006)

The ALPHA Experiment: A Cold Antihydrogen Trap

The ALPHA experiment aims to trap antihydrogen as the next crucial step towards a precise CPT test, by a spectroscopic comparison of antihydrogen with hydrogen. The experiment will retain the salient techniques developed by the ATHENA collaboration during the previous phase of antihydrogen experiments at the antiproton decelerator (AD) at CERN. The collaboration has identified the key problems in adding a neutral antiatom trap to the previously developed experimental configuration. The solutions identified by ALPHA are described in this paper.

W. Bertsche, A. Boston, P.D. Bowe, C.L. Cesar, S. Chapman, M. Charlton, M. Chartier, A. Deutsch, J. Fajans, M.C. Fujiwara, R. Funakoshi, D.Gill, K.Gomberoff, D. Grote , J.S. Hangst, R.S. Hayano, M. Jenkins, L. V. Jørgensen, N. Madsen, D. Miranda, P. Nolan, K. Ochanski, A.Olin, R.D. Page, L.G.C. Posada, F. Robicheaux, E. Sarid, H.H. Telle, J.-L. Vay, J. Wurtele, D.P. van der Werf, and Y. Yamazaki, in Low Energy Antiproton Physics, edited by D. Grzonka, R. Czyzykiewicz, W. Oelert, T. Rozek and P. Winter (American Institute of Physics, New York, 2002), AIP vol. 796, p. 301 (2005)

Observation of the 1S-2S Transition in Trapped Antihydrogen

Our current understanding of physics suggests that matter and antimatter should be created and destroyed in equal amounts, but this seems inconsistent with the observation that our universe consists almost entirely of matter. Comparisons between matter and antimatter could reveal new physics which explains why the universe has formed with this apparent imbalance. The 1S-2S transition of hydrogen has been measured with incredible precision, and a similarly precise measurement of the 1S-2S transition of antihydrogen would constitute one of the best comparisons between matter and antimatter.

The ALPHA collaboration have been producing and trapping antihydrogen since 2010. This thesis presents an overview of the apparatus and techniques and examines the theoretical aspects of antihydrogen spectroscopy. Generating sufficient optical intensity at 243 nm to excite the 1S-2S transition in a reasonable amount of time requires an enhancement cavity. The development of this enhancement cavity and the setup of the ultra-stable 243 nm laser source form the main focus of this thesis.

The thesis concludes by reporting the first observation of the 1S-2S transition in trapped antihydrogen, which can be interpreted as a comparison between matter and antimatter at the 200 parts-per-trillion level. This result was aided by a significantly improved trapping rate of 10.5 ± 0.6 detected trapped antihydrogen atoms per production cycle, and the stacking of multiple production cycles without ramping down the magnetic trap to accumulate more than 70 simultaneously trapped antihydrogen atoms.

Steven Armstrong Jones, PhD Thesis, Swansea University (2017)

Laser-Ablated Beryllium Ions for Cold Antihydrogen in ALPHA

One of the best ways to study antimatter is to investigate antihydrogen, the bound state of an antiproton and a positron. Antihydrogen atoms do not exist naturally and must be synthesized in the lab by merging carefully-prepared plasmas of positrons and antiprotons. If the atoms are created in a magnetic trap like the one used by the ALPHA experiment at CERN, then a fraction of the coldest atoms remain trapped, while the rest escape and annihilate on the trap walls. The trapped atoms may then be probed using microwaves or lasers to make high-precision comparisons with hydrogen.

Increasing the trapping rate would allow us to perform precision measurements on antihydrogen in a shorter period of time and with better systematics. Particle simulations indicate that by sympathetically cooling positrons using laser-cooled beryllium ions, we have the ability to improve the antihydrogen trapping rate by up to two orders of magnitude. This thesis describes the effort to design and qualify a beryllium ion source that is compatible with the extreme environment of the ALPHA trapping apparatus. To produce the ions, pulsed laser ablation of a beryllium target is investigated and the ion plume is characterized. By carefully choosing the laser parameters, a plume with a suitable number of ions and kinetic energy distribution can be created for subsequent trapping and laser-cooling in a Penning trap. This thesis reports the successful demonstration of the ion source, in particular its compatibility with the requirements of the ALPHA experiment. The ion source has been installed into the main apparatus at ALPHA and is expected to be commissioned early next year.

Muhammed Sameed, PhD Thesis, Swansea University (2017)

Tests of Fundamental Symmetries with Trapped Antihydrogen

Antihydrogen is the simplest pure antimatter atomic system, and it allows for direct tests of CPT symmetry as well as the weak equivalence principle. Furthermore, the study of antihydrogen may provide clues to the matter- antimatter asymmetry observed in the universe - one of the major unanswered questions in modern physics. Since 2010, it has been possible to perform such tests on magnetically trapped antihydrogen, and this work reports on several recent studies.

Analysing the temporal and spatial distribution of annihilations as antihy- drogen atoms are released from the magnetic trap, we set limits on the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen, ruling out a gravitational mass, Mg greater than 110 times the inertial mass, M, as well as Mg < −65M.

An improved limit on the charge neutrality of the antihydrogen atom is also presented. Stochastic electric potentials are used to empty the trap of any putatively charged antihydrogen atoms. From the lack of response to these potentials, we can set a limit for the charge of antihydrogen at |Q| < 7.1 × 10−10 e. From this measurement, the limit on the positron charge anomaly can also be improved.

As the main focus of this work, we consider the measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency in antihydrogen. The necessary theoretical framework for an initial measurement is developed and used to identify a feasible detection method for the excited 2S atoms. Recorded data from a series of trials is then analysed by comparison to a detailed simulation of the experiment. While the two are in excellent agreement, the data collected is not compellingly different from a pure background sample.

Chris Ørum Rasmussen, PhD Thesis, Aarhus University (2016)

Cold antihydrogen experiments and radial compression of antiproton clouds in the ALPHA apparatus at CERN

Antihydrogen is the simplest neutral antimatter atom. Precision comparisons between hydrogen and antihydrogen would provide stringent tests of CPT (charge conjugation/parity transformation/time reversal) invariance and the weak equivalence principle. In the last few years, the ALPHA collaboration has produced, and trapped antihydrogen [1, 2]. Most recently, this collaboration has probed antihydrogen’s internal structure by inducing hyperfine transitions in ground state atoms [3]. In this thesis, many details of the cold antihydrogen formation, trapping and measurements of antihydrogen performed in the ALPHA apparatus are presented, with a focus on antiproton cloud compression. Such compression is an important tool for the formation and trapping of cold antihydrogen, since it allows control of the radial size and density of the antiproton cloud. Compression of non-neutral plasmas can be achieved using a rotating time-varying azimuthal electric field, which has been called rotating wall technique.

In this work, we have observed a new mechanism for compression of a non-neutral plasma, specifi- cally where antiprotons embedded in an electron plasma are compressed by a rotating wall drive at a frequency close to the sum of the axial bounce and rotation frequencies (in a frequency range of 50 – 750 kHz). The radius of the antiproton cloud is reduced by up to a factor of 20 with the smallest radius measured to be ∼ 0.2 mm. We have studied antiproton cloud compression as a function of the rotating wall frequency, the duration of compression, the rotating wall amplitude, the numbers of electrons and antiprotons, the magnetic field and the shape of the potential well. The frequency range over which compression is evident is compared to the sum of the antiproton bounce frequency and the system’s rotation frequency. It is suggested that bounce resonant transport is a likely explanation for the compression of antiproton clouds in this regime.

Andrea Gutierrez, PhD Thesis, University of British Columbia (2016)

Antiproton and positron dynamics in antihydrogen production

The asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the universe and the incompatibility between the Standard Model and general relativity are some of the greatest unsolved questions in physics. The answer to both may possibly lie with the physics beyond the Standard Model, and comparing the properties of hydrogen and antihydrogen atoms provides one of the possible ways to exploring it. In 2010, the ALPHA collaboration demonstrated the first trapping of antihydrogen atoms, in an apparatus made of a Penning–Malmberg trap superimposed on a magnetic minimum trap. Its ultimate goal is to precisely measure the spectrum, gravitational mass and charge neutrality of the anti-atoms, and compare them with the hydrogen atom. These comparisons provide novel, direct and model–independent tests of the Standard Model and the weak equivalence principle. Before they can be achieved, however, the trapping rate of antihydrogen atoms needs to be improved.

This dissertation first describes the ALPHA apparatus, the experimental control sequence and the plasma manipulation techniques that realised antihydrogen trapping in 2010, and modified and improved upon thereafter. Experimental software, techniques and control sequences to which this research work has contributed are particularly focused on. In the second part of this dissertation, methods for improving the trapping efficiency of the ALPHA experiment are investigated. The trapping efficiency is currently hampered by a lack of understanding of the precise plasma conditions and dynamics in the antihydrogen production process, especially in the presence of shot–to–shot fluctuations. This resulted in an empirical development for many of the plasma manipulation techniques, taking up precious antiproton beam time and resulting in suboptimal performance. To remedy these deficiencies, this work proposes that simulations should be used to better understand and predict plasma behaviour, optimise the performance of existing techniques, allow new techniques to be explored efficiently, and derive more information from diagnostics.

Chukman So, PhD Thesis, University of California, Berkeley (2014)

Studies on the Neutrality of Antihydrogen

The recent demonstration of trapping of antihydrogen atoms by the ALPHA collaboration at CERN opened great possibilities to study antimatter and perform precision measurements on it.

In this work, a retrospective analysis of the 2010 and 2011 experimental runs in ALPHA, together with comprehensive studies of the apparatus and detailed simulations of the manipulations of anti-atoms, are performed and used to measure the electric charge of antihydrogen. This result is an example of a precision measurement on antimatter that may ultimately lead to keys for solving some of the most important problems in physics today, such as the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, by comparison to measurements carried out on “normal” matter atoms.

A procedure similar to the one presented may lead to increased precision with a larger data sample, perhaps using the new ALPHA2 apparatus. Nevertheless, a method using “stochastic heating” is proposed that could increase the precision of the measurement by many orders of magnitude. The technique offers many other advantages that make it very attractive for future experimental implementations.

Marcelo Baquero-Ruiz, Ph.D. Thesis, University of California Berkeley (2014)

Microwave Spectroscopy of Magnetically Trapped Atomic Antihydrogen

We have every reason to believe that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were producedin the early universe. Moreover, theory predicts that the laws of physics make no distinction between the two. In this light, the fact that the observable universe is overwhelmingly dominated by matter is inexplicable.
ALPHA is an international project located at CERN involving approximately 40 physicists from 15 different institutions in 7 countries. The primary goal of the collaboration is to study the antihydrogen atom at the highest level of precision possible, and thereby enable comparisons between hydrogen and antihydrogen. Through these comparisons it hopes to improve our understanding of the distinction between matter and antimatter, and perhaps
shed some light on the puzzle of why we live in a matter dominated universe. The hyperfine energy intervals of ground-state hydrogen and antihydrogen represent an opportunity for a precision comparison. A discrepancy between the energy levels of these two atomic systems would indicate a major revolution in physics, and in our understanding of the universe.
This thesis describes and interprets the first proof-of-principle spectroscopic measurements performed on magnetically trapped antihydrogen atoms. The experiments were performed by the ALPHA collaboration using microwave radiation tuned to induce transitions between hyperfine levels of ground state antihydrogen atoms. Our observations confirm that positron spin resonance transitions between hyperfine levels of ground state antihydro-
gen are consistent with expectations for hydrogen to within 4 parts in 103 . The hyperfine splitting of ground state antihydrogen atoms is also constrained to 1420 ± 85 MHz.

Mohammad Dehghani Ashkezari, PhD Thesis, Simon Fraser University (2014)

Probing Trapped Antihydrogen: In Situ Diagnostics and Observations of Quantum Transitions

Antihydrogen, the bound state of a positron and an antiproton, is the simplest pure anti-atomic system and an excellent candidate to test the symmetry between matter and antimatter. This thesis focuses on the magnetic confinement of antihydrogen and the first ever resonant interaction with trapped antihydrogen, as performed by the ALPHA collaboration. The ALPHA apparatus and the techniques that have been developed to form, trap, probe, and detect antihydrogen atoms will be described in detail. The first successful demonstration of trapped antihydrogen will then be described. In the initial demonstrations, 38 trapped antihydrogen atoms were detected after being confined for at least 172 ms. Since then, over 400 antihydrogen atoms have been trapped and confinement times of 1000 s (over 15 minutes) have been demonstrated. Spectroscopy of these trapped antihydrogen atoms is the next major step forward. As an initial proof-of-principle demonstration, ALPHA induced and observed resonant positron spin flip (PSR) transitions between the ground states of antihydrogen. Because of the strong magnetic field dependence of these transition frequencies, the success of this experiment relied heavily on the ability to measure the magnetic field seen by the antihydrogen atoms. A novel method to measure the magnetic field in situ by detecting the cyclotron resonance of a trapped electron plasma is presented. This method allowed ALPHA to measure the magnetic field strength at the minimum of the magnetic antihydrogen trap to within 1.4 parts in 10^3. Hardware improvements and further study should allow this resolution to be improved by several orders of magnitude. The cyclotron resonance measurements can also be applied as a rough diagnostic of a microwave field within the ALPHA apparatus. This allowed for important diagnostics of the microwave field used to excite the PSR transitions. Finally, the experimental results demonstrating resonant PSR transitions in antihydrogen are presented. This experiment is the first ever spectroscopic measurement of antihydrogen and an important step towards future precision spectroscopy.

Timothy Peter Friesen, PhD Thesis, University of Calgary (2014)

Detection of Trapped Antihydrogen

The ALPHA experiment is an international effort to produce, trap, and perform precision spectroscopic measurements on antihydrogen (the bound state of a positron and an antiproton). Based at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility at CERN, the ALPHA experiment has recently magnetically confined antihydrogen atoms for the first time. A crucial element in the observation of trapped antihydrogen is ALPHA’s silicon vertexing detector. This detector contains sixty silicon modules arranged in three concentric layers, and is able to determine the three-dimensional location of the annihilation of an antihydrogen atom by reconstructing the trajectories of the produced annihilation
products.

This dissertation focuses mainly on the methods used to reconstruct the annihilation location. Specifically, the software algorithms used to identify and extrapolate charged particle tracks are presented along with the routines used to estimate the annihilation location from the convergence of the identified tracks. It is shown that these methods can determine the annihilation location with a spatial resolution between about 0.6 to 0.8 cm (depending on the coordinate being measured). Furthermore, a robust analysis to identify and reduce cosmic ray background events is described. The cosmic ray background can obscure the trapped antihydrogen signal, and its suppression leads to a significant increase in the annihilation detection sensitivity. The background suppression analysis involves examining the reconstructed detector event based on several selection criteria, including: the number of charged particle tracks, the radial vertex position, and a fit of a straight line to the event hit positions. By carefully optimizing these criteria, (99.54 ± 0.02)% of cosmic ray events are rejected, while (64.4 ± 0.1)% of antihydrogen annihilation events are retained. Finally, the experimental results demonstrating the first-ever magnetic confinement of antihydrogen atoms are presented. These results rely heavily on the silicon detector, and as such, the role of the annihilation vertex reconstruction is emphasized.

Richard A. Hydomako, PhD Thesis, University of Calgary (2011)

The Effect of Multipole-Enhanced Diffusion on the Joule Heating of a Cold Non-Neutral Plasma

One proposed technique for trapping anti-atoms is to superimpose a Ioffe-Pritchard style magnetic-minimum neutral trap on a standard Penning trap used to trap the charged atomic constituents. Adding a magnetic multipole field in this way removes the azimuthal symmetry of the ideal Penning trap and introduces a new avenue for radial diffusion. Enhanced diffusion will lead to increased Joule heating of a non-neutral plasma, potentially adversely affecting the formation rate of anti-atoms and increasing the required trap depth. We present a model of this effect, along with an approach to minimizing it, with comparison to measurements from an intended anti-atom trap.

Steven Francis Chapman, PhD Thesis, University of California, Berkeley (2011)

Antihydrogen Formation, Dynamics and Trapping

Antihydrogen, the simplest pure-antimatter atomic system, holds the promise of direct tests of matter-antimatter equivalence and CPT invariance, two of the outstanding unanswered questions in modern physics. Antihydrogen is now routinely produced in charged-particle traps through the combination of plasmas of antiprotons and positrons, but the atoms escape and are destroyed in a minuscule fraction of a second. The focus of this work is the production of a sample of cold antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic atom trap. This poses an extreme challenge, because the state-of-the-art atom traps are only approximately 0.5 K deep for ground-state antihydrogen atoms, much shallower than the energies of particles stored in the plasmas. This thesis will outline the main parts of the ALPHA experiment, with an overview of the important physical processes at work. Antihydrogen production techniques will be described, and an analysis of the spatial annihilation distribution to give indications of the temperature and binding energy distribution of the atoms will be presented. Finally, we describe the techniques needed to demonstrate confinement of antihydrogen atoms, apply them to a data taking run and present the results, making a definitive identification of trapped antihydrogen atoms.

Eoin Butler, PhD Thesis, Swansea University (2011)

Evaporative cooling of antiprotons and efforts to trap antihydrogen

Evaporative cooling has proven to be an invaluable technique in atomic physics, allowing for the study of effects such as Bose-Einstein condensation. One main topic of this thesis is the first application of evaporative cooling to cold non-neutral plasmas stored in an ion trap. We (the ALPHA collaboration) have achieved cooling of a cloud of antiprotons to a temperature as low as 9 K, two orders of magnitude lowerthan ever directly measured previously. The measurements are well-described by appropriate rate equations for the temperature and number of particles. The technique has direct application to the ongoing attempts to produce trapped samples of antihydrogen. In these experiments the maximum trap depths are ex tremely shallow (~0.6 K for ground state atoms), and careful control of the trapped antiprotons and positrons used to form the (anti)atoms is essential to succes. Since 2006 powerful tools to diagnose and manipulate the antiproton and positron plasmas in the ALPHA apparatus have been developed and used in attempts to trap antihydrogen. These efforts are the second main topic of this thesis.

Gorm Bruun Andresen, PhD Thesis, Aarhus University (2010)

Development of an Antihydrogen Trapping Apparatus

This thesis details the development and commissioning of the ALPHA antihydrogen trapping apparatus. It discusses the history of antimatter physics that led to and enabled the design of the apparatus. It discusses the importance of antihydrogen trapping in testing one of the basic assumptions of the Standard Model of particle physics (that of CPT invariance). It goes on to discuss the design and construction of the apparatus. Finally, it presents results that demonstrate antihydrogen formation in the new magnetic field configurations that together constitute a magnetic minimum trap for neutral antihydrogen. This is an important preliminary result for any antihydrogen trapping apparatus, and confirms that the ALPHA apparatus does present a potential route towards laser spectroscopy of antihydrogen.

Matthew Jenkins, PhD Thesis, Swansea University (2008).

Modelling of Antihydrogen Formation and the Commissioning of the ALPHA Antihydrogen Apparatus

This thesis describes several models of antihydrogen formation as well as the commissioning of the ALPHA antihydrogen during the 2006 Antiproton Decelerator (AD) physics run. Three models are given to describe the short-time production of antihydrogen, including the Simple Temperature Dependant Model, Inverse Velocity Model, and Scaled Inverse Velocity Model. All three models are compared to results from the ATHENA experiment. After an introduction to the ALPHA apparatus and some of the techniques used to produce antihydrogen the commissioning process is described, focusing on the optimization of the antiproton capture, cooling, and manipulation. Also included is an appendix describing in detail the ALPHA data acquisition system as of the end of the 2006 physics run.

Richard A. Hydomako, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Calgary (2007)