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