Kinematically Complete Measurements for Positron Impact Ionization of Atoms and Simple Molecules

该项目包括一项国际合作，旨在精确测量反物质和物质之间的基本相互作用。 正电子（有时称为电子的反粒子）撞击原子和简单分子，为研究这些相互作用的基础物理提供了独特的机会。 我们在运动学完整的实验中测量每个粒子的初始和最终状态动量。 这为比较实验与理论以及研究高度相关系统的物理提供了最严格的标准。 就简单分子而言，它还使我们能够将相互作用的研究扩展到空间定向分子。了解这些相互作用对于正电子与更复杂分子相互作用的精确建模至关重要，并可能带来多种应用，例如增强正电子发射断层扫描（PET）扫描的分辨率以及放射性同位素β衰变对人体组织的影响。 这是一项合作成果，包括来自总部位于澳大利亚国立大学的澳大利亚研究委员会反物质-物质研究卓越中心（CAMS）和海德堡马克斯普朗克核物理研究所的科学家们的共同努力。 这项研究包括国际“同一个世界”环境中的博士后研究人员以及研究生和本科生。 正如这些实验室规模实验的情况一样，学生和博士后参与研究的各个方面，从实验仪器的构思和开发到实验的操作和诊断，以及结果的分析和发布。

This project comprises an international collaboration to address precision measurements of fundamental interactions between antimatter and matter. Positrons (sometimes referred to as the anti-particle of the electron), impinging upon atoms and simple molecules, provide a unique opportunity to study the fundamental physics of these interactions. We measure the initial and final state momentum of each of the particles in a kinematically complete experiment. This provides the most stringent of criteria for comparing experiment with theory, and for studying the physics of highly correlated systems. In the case of simple molecules, it also enables us to extend the study of interactions to spatially-oriented molecules.The understanding of these interactions is essential to precision modeling of positrons interacting with more complex molecules and may lead to diverse applications such as enhanced resolution for Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans and the effects of beta decay of radio-isotopes on human tissue. It is a collaborative effort including scientists from the Australian Research Council's Center of Excellence for Antimatter-Matter Studies (CAMS) headquartered at the Australian National University and the Max-Planck-Institüt fur Kernphysik in Heidelberg. This research includes post-doctoral researchers and graduate and undergraduate students in an international "one-world" environment. As is often the case for these laboratory scale experiments, the students and post-docs are involved in all aspects of the research, from conception and development of the experimental apparatus through to the operation and diagnosis of the experiments, and analysis and publication of results.