A Scheme To Produce The Antihydrogen Ion H-bar{sup +} For Gravity Measurements

Journal Article · Fri Aug 08 00:00:00 EDT 2008 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2977854· OSTI ID:21152355

Perez, P; Liszkay, L; Carty, M; Curtoni, A; Delferrierre, O; Rey, J -M; Sauce, Y ^[1]; Barthe, M F; Desgardin, P ^[2]; Boilot, J -P; Corbel, C ^[3]; Crivelli, P ^[1]; Etienne, M; Walcarius, A ^[4]; Gendotti, U; Rubbia, A ^[5]; Hassan, M; Mohri, A; Saitoh, H; Yamazaki, Y ^[6]

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1. DSM/Irfu, CEA/Saclay, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)
2. Conditions Extremes et Materiaux : Haute Temperature et Irradiation, UPR3079, 3A rue de la Ferollerie, 45071 Orleans Cedex 2 (France)
3. Laboratoire des Solides Irradies, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau Cedex (France)
4. Laboratoire de Chimie Physique et Microbiologie pour l'Environnement, UMR7564, CNRS-Nancy-Universite, 405 rue de Vandoeuvre, F-54600 Villers-les-Nancy (France)
5. Institut fuer Teilchenphysik, ETHZ, CH-8093 Zuerich (Switzerland)
6. Atomic Physics Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako 351-01 (Japan)

We propose to use the charge exchange reaction of antiprotons with positronium atoms in order to produce antihydrogen atoms, H-bar, and H-bar{sup +} ions. The ions can be cooled down to {mu}K temperatures and then ionized to recover an ultra slow neutral H-bar atom. Its acceleration is then measured by time of flight. Results on the conversion of slow positrons into positronium are presented. This is a first step towards the creation of a dense cloud of positronium atoms to be used as a target for the antiprotons. The source of positrons is based on a 6 MeV industrial electron linac with 0.2 mA average current to be installed in CEA-Saclay. Equipped with a tungsten target and a moderator, it is aimed at producing rates of order 10{sup 8} s{sup -1} slow positrons.

• OSTI ID: 21152355
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1037, Issue 1; Conference: Workshop on cold antimatter plasmas and application to fundamental physics, Okinawa (Japan), 20-22 Feb 2008; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.2977854; (c) 2008 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ANTIPROTONS
CEA SACLAY
CHARGE-EXCHANGE REACTIONS
ELECTRONS
GRAVITATION
HADRONIC ATOMS
ION-ATOM COLLISIONS
MEV RANGE
POSITRONIUM
POSITRONS
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD