High-precision low-noise voltage control system for the ALPHA penning trap

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This equipment grant application requests a Canadian contribution to a critical upgrade of the voltage control system for the Penning trap at the heart of ALPHA apparatus. This upgrade is a joint capital project that is being undertaken by the entire ALPHA collaboration. The upgrade is motivated by our recent experimental demonstration of evaporative cooling of antiprotons down to 10 K; this experimental technique has been a workhorse in the field of Bose-Einstein Condensation but has almost never been used with charged plasmas. In the process of achieving this very-important milestone, it has become apparent that electronic noise and the resolution of our Penning trap voltage control system are now the limiting factors for base temperature and cooling efficiency. The upgrade to the control system requested in this application will overcome these limitations, and represents the most promising route to anti-hydrogen trapping and spectroscopy. Moreover, the requested equipment is critical to achieving the goals of our SAP Project Grant, and directly support an integrated and extensive HQP training initiative.