Laser cooling and trapping for experiments at the interface of matter and antimatter

反氢可以由反质子与正电子原子（Ps）进行电荷交换而产生；一个电子和一个正电子的结合状态。最近的数值计算表明，电荷交换反应的横截面可以惊人地大，特别是对于Ps的激发态。然而，该系统是复杂的，需要进一步的工作。在这里，我们的目标是将冷原子离子和Ps结合在一个设备中进行电荷共轭过程的实验研究，即通过Ps的电荷交换产生冷中性原子。该项目将研究将Ps生产，激光激发和离子捕获结合起来的合适几何形状，这些几何形状将集成到正电子束线中。该项目将产生一般适用于反氢合成和操作的激光冷却和捕获几何形状，从而为利用反氢物理中的原子传感器等量子技术创造平台。

Antihydrogen can be produced from antiprotons by charge exchange with positronium atoms (Ps); the bound state of an electron and a positron. It has recently been shown by numerical calculations that the charge exchange reaction cross-section can be surprisingly large, especially for excited states of Ps. However, the system is complex and requires further work. Here, we aim to combine cold atomic ions and Ps in one apparatus in an experimental study of the charge conjugate process, i.e. creating cold neutral atoms via charge exchange from Ps. The project will investigate suitable geometries for combining Ps production, laser excitation and ion trapping, which will be integrated into the positron beamline. The project will yield laser cooling and trapping geometries generally suitable for antihydrogen synthesis and manipulation, thus creating platforms for making use of quantum technologies such as atomic sensors in antihydrogen physics.