The second ingredient that is needed to create antihydrogen are antiprotons. The Antiproton, p, is the antimatter counterpart of a proton. Antiprotons can be produced in collisions involving cosmic rays, but do not occur on earth naturally. That’s why we need to produce them with the accelerators at CERN.

The first ingredient that is needed to create antihydrogen are positrons. The Positron (= positive electron), e+, is the antimatter counterpart of the electron, and was the first antimatter particle that was discovered. Positrons occur naturally at the β+ decay of radioactive material.

ALPHA is not just one apparatus. The apparatus consists of different sub-elements, which are all produced and maintained by experts from around the world. At CERN we then rebuild these components and make the whole experiment work together.