The Production and Study of Cold Antihydrogen

该奖项支持在反物质中性原子上进行的基本对称性测试。该项目正朝着使用冷、捕获反氢的精确激光光谱对重子和轻子进行电荷共轭、宇称和时间反转（CPT）不变性的精确测试的方向发展，同时也在研究反物质原子的引力。测试最基本的对称性和物理概念需要发明新的设备和方法，涉及原子物理，等离子体物理，核物理，激光物理，非线性和混沌动力学。以前已经证明了产生反氢原子的两种基本方法。该项目的目标是产生并冷却反原子，使其达到可以被捕获用于光谱学的能量。这些实验是在瑞士日内瓦的欧洲核子研究中心实验室的反质子减速机（AD）存储环中进行的，这是一个为进行此类实验而建造的独特而坚实的设施。作为该研究计划的一部分，开发了减缓、捕获和冷却AD所需反质子的方法。该计划的广泛影响从学生的培训到仪器设计的影响，再到公众对反物质物理学的教育。本科生和研究生接受仪器设计、实验物理和数据分析方面的广泛培训。为这项研究设计的仪器已经应用于ICR、核磁共振和核磁共振成像，陷阱设计正在用于分析药物和化合物的设备。PI每年都会以这项研究为基础举办许多科学讨论会、科普讲座和高中演讲。

This award supports fundamental symmetry tests performed on neutral atoms of antimatter. The project is progressing towards accurate tests of Charge conjugation, Parity, and Time reversal (CPT) invariance with baryons and leptons using precise laser spectroscopy of cold, trapped antihydrogen, as well as investigating the gravitational force on antimatter atoms. Testing the most basic symmetries and notions of physics requires inventing new devices and methods involving atomic physics, plasma physics, nuclear physics, laser physics, non-linear and chaotic dynamics. Two basic methods for producing antihydrogen atoms have been demonstrated previously. The goal of this project is to produce and cool anti-atoms to energies at which they can be trapped for spectroscopy. The experiments are carried out at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland at the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) storage ring, a unique and substantial facility built to allow such experiments. Methods to slow, capture and cool the needed antiprotons from the AD were developed as part of this research program.The broad impact of the program spans from the training of students to the impact of instrument design to the education of the public on antimatter physics. Undergraduate and graduate students are broadly trained in instrument design, experimental physics, and data analysis. Instruments designed for this research have been applied to ICR, NMR and MRI imaging, and trap designs are being used in devices that analyze pharmaceuticals and chemical compounds. The PI presents many scientific colloquiums, popular scientific lectures and high school presentations based upon this research each year.