The ATHENA experiment for the study of antihydrogen
Publisher DOI
Abstract
In 2002, the ATHENA experiment was the first to produce large amounts of antihydrogen
atoms at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD). In this review article, we collect and
discuss all the relevant results of the experiment: antiproton and positron cooling and
their recombination dynamics in the nested Penning trap, the methods used to unambiguously identify the antiatoms as well as the protonium background, the dependence
of the antihydrogen formation on mixing time and temperature. An attempt to interpret
the results in terms of the two-body and three-body formation reactions, taking
into account the complicated nested-trap dynamics, is also made. The relevance of the
ATHENA results on future experiments is discussed, together with a short overview of
the current antimatter physics at the AD.
atoms at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator (AD). In this review article, we collect and
discuss all the relevant results of the experiment: antiproton and positron cooling and
their recombination dynamics in the nested Penning trap, the methods used to unambiguously identify the antiatoms as well as the protonium background, the dependence
of the antihydrogen formation on mixing time and temperature. An attempt to interpret
the results in terms of the two-body and three-body formation reactions, taking
into account the complicated nested-trap dynamics, is also made. The relevance of the
ATHENA results on future experiments is discussed, together with a short overview of
the current antimatter physics at the AD.
Date Issued
2014
Publication Type
Article
Subject(s)
Language(s)
en
Additional Credits
Journal
International journal of modern physics. A - particles and fields, gravitation, cosmology
Publisher
World Scientific
ISSN
0217-751X
Access(Rights)
restricted