Tag: Refereed Publication
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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 ±
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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