Tag: Theses
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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
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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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Testing CPT and antigravity with trapped antihydrogen at ALPHA
High precision antihydrogen experiments allow tests of fundamental theoretical descriptions of nature. These experiments are performed with the ALPHA apparatus, where ultra-low energy antihydrogen is produced and confined in a magnetic trap. Antihydrogen spectroscopy is of primary interest for precision tests of CPT invariance – one of the most important symmetries of the Standard Model.
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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
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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
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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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Microwave Spectroscopy Of Magnetically Trapped Atomic Antihydrogen
We have every reason to believe that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were produced in 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
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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
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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