Fundamental Symmetry Tests with Trapped Antihydrogen: ALPHA at CERN/AD

捕获反氢的基本对称性测试：CERN/AD 的 ALPHA

• 批准号: SAPPJ-2017-00031
• 负责人: Fujiwara, Makoto
• 金额: $ 49.54万
• 依托单位: TRIUMF
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Subatomic Physics Envelope - Project
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2019-01-01 至 2020-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=694955
• 关键词: Fundamental; Symmetry; Tests; Trapped; Antihydrogen

ALPHA is an antimatter experiment based at CERN. The ALPHA Collaboration involves scientists from 14 institutions in 7 countries. Over one-third of these scientists come from Canadian research laboratories and universities. The Canadian team (ALPHA-Canada) has members at TRIUMF, UBC, SFU, UCalgary, and YorkU. It has held major project funding from NSERC since its inception in 2005, received the 2013 NSERC Polanyi Award, and has made significant contributions to numerous ALPHA achievements.***The goal of the ALPHA project is to measure and compare the properties of 'antihydrogen' (anti-H) - the simplest atomic form of neutral antimatter - with those of ordinary hydrogen. In doing so, we directly test and challenge fundamental theories about similarities and differences (symmetries') between matter and antimatter, an issue that is arguably one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. Since 2011, ALPHA has announced many significant and high profile milestone achievements, including: long term trapping of neutral antimatter (2011), proof of principle microwave studies (2012), gravitational force measurements on trapped anti-H(2013), in situ trap diagnostics (2013-14) and high precision measurements of the charge neutrality of anti-H [1 part in 10^8 (2014), 1 part in 10^9 (2016)].***ALPHA recently completed a major upgrade, to which ALPHA-Canada made major contributions with NSERC support. The new ALPHA-2 apparatus allows optical access to trapped anti-H for precision laser spectroscopy, experiments that are currently underway at CERN. Our contributions to ALPHA-2 included: design and fabrication of the new anti-atom trap cryostat; upgrades to the detector readout data acquisition, trap electronics, laser, and microwave systems. Work to date with ALPHA-2 includes at least 10-fold improvement in anti-H collection rates, initial probing of anti-H with cavity-stored laser light, and commissioning of a pulsed Lyman- laser system. The ALPHA-Canada team plays a prominent role in ALPHA-2 commissioning and operation, including providing leadership on detector analysis and pulsed laser system operation.***In partnership with CFI and three provinces, ALPHA-Canada and ALPHA have undertaken another infrastructure upgrade through design, construction, and fabrication of a second apparatus to run in parallel with ALPHA-2. ALPHA-g is a system designed to measure the gravitational forces on neutral anti-H and answer the question “If an antimatter apple was dropped, how would it fall?”***This proposal requests funding to support an exciting and highly-visible three-year program of research. It will result in the first-ever laser spectroscopy and cooling of atomic anti-H, improved measurements of the its hyperfine splitting at a precision that probes fundamental physics, first measurements of its Lyman- spectra, and the first-ever observation of gravitational free-fall of anti-H.

ALPHA 是一项基于 CERN 的反物质实验。 ALPHA Collaboration 涉及来自 7 个国家 14 个机构的科学家。其中超过三分之一的科学家来自加拿大研究实验室和大学。加拿大团队（ALPHA-Canada）的成员来自TRIUMF、UBC、SFU、UCalgary和YorkU。自 2005 年成立以来，它一直获得 NSERC 的重大项目资助，荣获 2013 年 NSERC Polanyi 奖，并对众多 ALPHA 成就做出了重大贡献。*** ALPHA 项目的目标是测量“反氢”（反 H）（中性反物质的最简单原子形式）与普通氢的性质并进行比较。在此过程中，我们直接测试和挑战有关物质和反物质之间相似性和差异（对称性）的基本理论，这个问题可以说是物理学中最大的未解决问题之一。自 2011 年以来，ALPHA 宣布了许多重大且备受瞩目的里程碑式成就，包括：中性反物质的长期捕获（2011 年）、微波研究原理证明（2012 年）、捕获的反 H 的重力测量（2013 年）、原位捕获诊断（2013-14）以及反 H 电荷中性的高精度测量 [10^8 中的 1 部分（2014 年）、1 部分10^9 (2016)].***ALPHA 最近完成了一次重大升级，ALPHA-Canada 在 NSERC 的支持下为此做出了重大贡献。新的 ALPHA-2 装置可以通过光学方式获取捕获的抗 H，以实现精密激光光谱学，该实验目前正在欧洲核子研究中心 (CERN) 进行。我们对 ALPHA-2 的贡献包括：设计和制造新型反原子陷阱低温恒温器；升级探测器读数数据采集、陷阱电子设备、激光和微波系统。迄今为止，ALPHA-2 的工作包括将抗 H 收集率提高至少 10 倍、使用腔存储激光对抗 H 进行初步探测以及脉冲莱曼激光系统的调试。 ALPHA-Canada 团队在 ALPHA-2 调试和运行中发挥着重要作用，包括在探测器分析和脉冲激光系统运行方面发挥着重要作用。***ALPHA-Canada 和 ALPHA 与 CFI 和三个省份合作，通过设计、建造和制造与 ALPHA-2 并行运行的第二台设备，进行了另一项基础设施升级。 ALPHA-g 是一个旨在测量中性反 H 引力的系统，并回答“如果反物质苹果掉落，它会如何掉落？”这个问题***该提案需要资金来支持一项令人兴奋且高度可见的三年研究计划。它将带来有史以来第一个反氢原子的激光光谱和冷却，以探测基础物理的精度改进其超精细分裂的测量，首次测量其莱曼光谱，以及首次观测反氢原子的重力自由落体。