Tools and Diagnostics for the Production and Study of Antihydrogen Atoms

by Prof. Joel Fajans (UC Berkeley / LBNL)

Wednesday 26 Oct 2016, 12:00 → 13:00 US/Pacific

50 Auditorium

In the last decade, scientists have learned how to create and trap antihydrogen atoms.  At this point, thousands of antiatoms have been trapped for times as long as 1000s.  After briefly describing some of the current and planned physics tests with antihydrogen (spectral comparisons, gravitational interactions, hyperfine levels, charge), I will discuss the techniques, instrumentation, and apparatus necessary to create and trap antiatoms.  The source of antiprotons for these experiments, for instance, is the AD ring at CERN, a unique, reverse accelerator.  The AD will soon be enhanced by the ELENA electrostatic ring.  Positrons come from a clever gaseous collision device invented by Cliff Surko at UCSD.  Improvements to the antiatom trapping rates has been closely correlated to improvements to antimatter plasma imaging and temperature diagnostics.  Finally detection of the antiatoms themselves is best accomplished by vertex tracking detectors.  Previously, we used 3 layer Si devices, but we are currently building a radial TPC for a new experiment.