Antihydrogen and Antiproton Studies

反氢和反质子研究

• 批准号: 1903757
• 负责人: Gerald Gabrielse
• 金额: $ 59.24万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-07-01 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1903757&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Antihydrogen; Antiproton; Studies

The antihydrogen atom, a bound state of a positron and an antiproton, is the simplest atom made entirely of antimatter. This unusual atom has been produced and suspended within magnetic fields that keep the antimatter atoms suspended at a central location. The intellectual merit of precise comparisons of the properties of the antihydrogen atoms and their matter counterpart arises from the possibility of testing the prediction of the most fundamental physics theory, namely that matter and antimatter particles are "exactly opposite", with charges of opposite sign and masses that are identical, and that antimatter atoms and matter atoms have precisely the same properties. There are good reasons to believe that the most fundamental physics theory is not a complete description. Discovering a difference between the structure of antimatter and matter atoms would thus lead to an improved theory of fundamental physics, the consequences of which are potentially important for science and future technology. Moreover, this research is the training ground for some of the most gifted science students and postdocs, preparing them for the successful careers in science and technology that are needed for a technological society to thrive. Methods developed for such fundamental research typically find their way into more common applications. Finally, many lectures on this science are used to educate students, professional scientists, and the general public.

反氢原子是完全由反物质组成的最简单的原子，它是正电子和反质子的束缚状态。这种不同寻常的原子被产生并悬浮在磁场中，使反物质原子悬浮在中心位置。精确比较反氢原子及其对应物质的性质在智力上的优势来自于检验最基本物理理论的预测的可能性，即物质和反物质粒子是“完全相反的”，电荷的符号和质量是相同的，反物质原子和物质原子具有完全相同的性质。我们有充分的理由相信，最基本的物理理论并不是一个完整的描述。因此，发现反物质和物质原子的结构差异将导致基础物理理论的改进，其结果可能对科学和未来的技术具有重要意义。此外，这项研究是一些最有天赋的理科学生和博士后的训练场，为他们在科技社会蓬勃发展所需的成功的科学和技术职业生涯做好准备。为这类基础研究开发的方法通常会进入更常见的应用领域。最后，许多关于这门科学的讲座被用来教育学生、专业科学家和普通公众。