MRI: Development of Instrumentation for Laser-Cooling and Precision Spectroscopy of Positronium Atoms, Molecules and Condensates

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Instrumentation will be developed for working with positronium atoms, molecules, and condensates. Positronium (Ps)is an exotic atom made of an electron bound to its antiparticle the positron. Once completed, the combined laser-cooling and spectroscopy capability, together with a bright pulsed positron source, will form a unique facility for positronium physics. The new laser instruments will enable laser-cooling of Ps atoms to prepare for high precision optical spectroscopy for cooled Ps atoms. The work will be a first step in the ultimate goal of trapping Ps atoms to form a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC), which would be the first multi-atom macroscopic state containing antimatter. The new lasers would also provide Ps 1S-2S measurements at new levels of precision which will encourage further developments in bound state quantum electrodynamics (QED) theory and permit their interpretation in terms of the fundamental constants and upper limits on various exotic interactions. The proposed new instrumentation will be integrated with a new high intensity accelerator-based positron beam at the university. Development of the proposed laser instrumentation will create a unique environment for undergraduate and graduate education and training in positron beam technology, atomic and molecular physics, advanced laser science, and precision metrology. Development of cooled positronium will pave the way for production of a BEC of anti-matter, and this will be of great scientific interest. The precision Ps spectroscopy will provide unique tests of fundamental atomic theory, such that unexpected results could unambiguously indicate physics beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics. This work will have a strong educational component for graduate students due to the multiplicity of experimental techniques required and the large number and variety of interesting thesis topics that it will generate. Once completed, the laser and positron facility will form the basis for additional antimatter-based programs directed toward pre-college students, as well as undergraduate and graduate students, providing material for laboratory tours and popular lectures for high school visitors, summer internships for high school teachers and their students, and a center piece for discussions.