ATRAP Forces the Production
of Cold Antihydrogen
and
ATRAP Observes the First Distribution of States of Antihydrogen
2002
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Spokesperson
Cold antihydrogen is produced when antiprotons are repeatedly driven into
collisions with cold positrons within a nested Penning trap. A background-free
observation of the cold antihydrogen atoms is made using field ionization
followed by antiproton storage, a detection method that provides the first
experimental information about antihydrogen atomic states. Efficient
antihydrogen production takes place during many cycles of positron cooling
of antiprotons. More antihydrogen atoms can be field-ionized in an hour
than all the antimatter atoms that have been previously reported, and the
production rate per incident high energy antiproton is higher than ever observed.
A first measurement of a distribution of antihydrogen states is made
using a pre-ionizing electric field between separated production and detection
regions. Surviving antihydrogen is stripped in an ionization well that
captures and stores the freed antiproton for background-free detection. The
high rate and the high Rydberg states suggest that the antihydrogen is formed
via three-body recombination.
ATRAP
Press Release
CERN
Press Release
Press Release of
the American Institute of Physics
Physical Review Letters (in press)