Antihydrogen
Project description:
Antihydrogen is the antiparticle
version of hydrogen, i.e. it is the
bound state of a negatively charged antiproton and a postively charged
positron (anti-electron). Presently two experimental groups at the
European laboratory CERN outside Geneva have been able to produce
anithydrogen at temperatures of a few Kelvin. The goal of the
experiments is to make very precise comparisons between antihydrogen
and hydrogen atoms, and thereby investigate the very fundamental
matter-antimatter symmetries.
In Umeå we investigate what happens when an antihydrogen atom
collides
with normal matter at low temperatures. Such collisions happens both
because of contaminations in the experiment, and because atoms may hit
"the wall" of the experiment. One could also create such collisions on
purpose, either to study fundamental physics, or because one could
maybe cool antihydrogen even further this way. This project is
highly
international with collaborators in Uppsala, Berlin, Wroclaw (Poland),
Nottingham, Boston, and Las Vegas.
Contact: Svante Jonsell