Antihydrogen formation in low-energy antiproton collisions with excited-state positronium atoms

The convergent close-coupling method is used to obtain cross sections for antihydrogen formation in low-energy antiproton collisions with positronium (Ps) atoms in specified initial excited states with principal quantum numbers n_i ≤?5. The threshold behaviour as a function of the Ps kinetic energy, E, is consistent with the 1/E law expected from threshold theory for all initial states. We find that the increase in the cross sections is muted above n_i =?3 and that here their scaling is roughly consistent with \({n_{i}^{2}}\), rather than the classically expected increase as \({n_{i}^{4}}\).     

反氢和反原子

自从狄立预言反粒子的存在后，虽然人们已经找到了几乎每个粒子的反粒子，但几代物理学家苦苦寻找着由反粒子组成的以原子，１９９６年１月ＣＥＲＮ宣布制成反氢原子，打开了通向反物质世界的大门子，引起轰动，文章叙述这一重大发现的物理背景，报道了上述发现，并展望由此开辟的崭新领域。     

Antihydrogen at sub-Kelvin temperatures

We discuss the behavior of magnetically trapped antihydrogen ( ) at temperatures relevant for gravity and spectroscopy experiments (well below 1 K) and the possibilities of attaining these temperatures. Two possible options are considered. In the discussion of the first one, i.e. as admixture in cold H gas, we develop the quantum-mechanical theory of -H (and also -H) elastic and rearrangement collisions at ultra-low (sub-Kelvin) energies, when s-wave scattering in the incoming channel dominates. The rate constant of rearrangement leading to decay turns out to be large, which makes the possibilities for collisional cooling in H gas and -H coexistence rather limited. As we show, the most promising is the other option, i.e. atoms in the collisionless regime. For this regime the possibility of one-dimensional adiabatic cooling of is demonstrated by using the example of the Ioffe trap. This phenomenon, interesting from the fundamental point of view, offers the opportunity to cool below 1 mK.     

Antihydrogen and fundamental symmetries

The prospects for testing CPT invariance and the weak equivalence principle (WEP) for antimatter with spectroscopic measurements on antihydrogen are discussed. The potential precisions of these tests are compared with those from other measurements. “If there is negative electricity, why not negative gold, as yellow...as our own, with the same boiling point and identical spectrallines...” A. Schuster [1], 1898     

Antihydrogen formation in combined traps

The antihydrogen formation via two-body recombination in a cylindrical trap is studied and a very crude estimation of the formation rate is presented. The possibility of using the thermal wave model to describe the particle distribution function in a trap has been checked in some simple cases.     

Antihydrogen synthesis: A progress report

The main suggested routes for atomic antihydrogen ( ) formation will be reviewed in a pedestrian fashion. These are the following reactions: , and (iii) . The present status of the projects related to these reactions, as well as the projects' experimental scope, will also be discussed or referred to. Some speculations will be made regarding the physics that can be yielded by an antihydrogen probe.     

Antihydrogen production in a combined trap

In this paper we study the properties of a Paul trap with a superimposed magnetic field (combined trap) and discuss the possibility of using this trap to simultaneously store positrons and antiprotons to form antihydrogen.     

Low Temperature Hydrogen Antihydrogen Interactions

In view of current interest in the trapping of antihydrogen ( ) atoms at low temperatures [1–3], we have carried out a full four-body variational calculation to determine s-wave elastic phase shifts for hydrogen antihydrogen scattering, using the Kohn Variational Principle. Terms outside the Born–Oppenheimer approximation have been taken into account using the formalism of Kołos and Wolniewicz [4]. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that these terms have been included in an H scattering calculation. This is a continuation of earlier work on H– interactions [5–7]. Preliminary results differ substantially from those calculated using the Born–Oppenheimer approximation [8–10]. A method is outlined for reducing this discrepancy and taking the rearrangement channel into account. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Antihydrogen (hydrogen) atom formation

In this paper we show how the ATHENA data samples on the antihydrogen ( ${\bar{\rm H}}$ ) formation in very different conditions provide useful information on the two different possible mechanisms: the 3-body reaction ( $\bar{p}+{e^+}+{e^+}\rightarrow {\bar{\rm H}}+ e^+$ ) and the 2-body reaction ( $\bar{p}+{\rm e^+}\rightarrow {\bar{\rm H}}+{h\nu}$ ).     

Antihydrogen production within a Penning-Ioffe trap

Slow antihydrogen (H) is produced within a Penning trap that is located within a quadrupole Ioffe trap, the latter intended to ultimately confine extremely cold, ground-state H[over ] atoms. Observed H[over ] atoms in this configuration resolve a debate about whether positrons and antiprotons can be brought together to form atoms within the divergent magnetic fields of a quadrupole Ioffe trap. The number of detected H atoms actually increases when a 400 mK Ioffe trap is turned on.     

Antihydrogen formation through positron-antiproton radiative combination

In this paper the production of a beam of antihydrogen atoms through the capture of positrons by antiprotons in an arrangement of merged parallel beams is considered. The achievable luminosity is estimated on the basis of available antiproton and positron intensities. The scaling of the luminosity with various parameters is investigated. It is argued that an intense beam of antihydrogen can be obtained if antiprotons and positrons are stored, recirculated and cooled. While the number of stored antiprotons which can be achieved at present is already high, schemes for the accumulation of slow and cooled positrons have to be developed. Possible ways are pointed out. The fact that a high number of both species of charged particles can be accumulated, stored, and recirculated, compensates largely for the low capture cross-section.Invited talk given at the International Symposium on the Production of Low-Energy Positrons with Accelerators and Applications, Giessen, Fed. Rep. Germany (25–27 September 1986)Visitor at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland     

AEGIS at CERN: Measuring Antihydrogen Fall

The main goal of the AEGIS experiment at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator is testing fundamental laws such as the weak equivalence principle (WEP) and the CPT symmetry. In the first phase of AEGIS, a beam of antihydrogen will be formed whose fall in the gravitational field is measured in a Moirè deflectometer; this will constitute the first test of the WEP with antimatter.     

Antihydrogen production in a merged beam arrangement

The production of antihydrogen by merging beams of antiprotons and positrons is described. Both beams, kept in storage devices, are continuously recirculated. Antihydrogen is formed by radiative recombination of positrons and antiprotons. Production rates of a few thousand per second are expected. The semi-relativistic atomic beam of antihydrogen would have a divergence of less than 1 mrad and a beam diameter of a few millimeter. The possibilities to increase these rates by induced recomtination are discussed. The scheme of antihydrogen production in overlapping beams is compared to other approaches.     

Antihydrogen formation by autoresonant excitation of antiproton plasmas

In efforts to trap antihydrogen, a key problem is the vast disparity between the neutral trap energy scale ( $\sim\!50\,\upmu\mathrm{eV}$ ), and the energy scales associated with plasma confinement and space charge (~1 eV). In order to merge charged particle species for direct recombination, the larger energy scale must be overcome in a manner that minimizes the initial antihydrogen kinetic energy. This issue motivated the development of a novel injection technique utilizing the inherent nonlinear nature of particle oscillations in our traps. We demonstrated controllable excitation of the center-of-mass longitudinal motion of a thermal antiproton plasma using a swept-frequency autoresonant drive. When the plasma is cold, dense and highly collective in nature, we observe that the entire system behaves as a single-particle nonlinear oscillator, as predicted by a recent theory. In contrast, only a fraction of the antiprotons in a warm or tenuous plasma can be similarly excited. Antihydrogen was produced and trapped by using this technique to drive antiprotons into a positron plasma, thereby initiating atomic recombination. The nature of this injection overcomes some of the difficulties associated with matching the energies of the charged species used to produce antihydrogen.     

The Four-Body System Made up of Hydrogen and Antihydrogen

 In view of current interest in the trapping of antihydrogen atoms at low temperatures [1–3], we have investigated the reasons for considering that does not have a bound state. We go on to carry out a four-body variational calculation for s-wave hydrogen-antihydrogen scattering, using the Kohn variational method. This is a continuation of earlier work on interactions [5–7]. Received October 30, 2001; accepted for publication November 21, 2001