New Physics with Antimatter Traps and Trap-Based Beams — The Plasma Connection

Institutskolloquium

  • Date: Dec 6, 2019
  • Time: 02:15 PM - 03:45 PM (Local Time Germany)
  • Speaker: Clifford M.Surko
  • Physics Department, University of California San Diego
  • Location: Garching und Greifswald
  • Room: Günter-Grieger-Hörsaal und Hörsaal D2
  • Host: IPP
The development of plasma-based techniques to create novel traps and beams has enabled new investigations with antimatter [1].

The scarcity of antiparticles (e.g., nano- or pico-Coulombs instead of Coulombs of ordinary ions or electrons), and the need to keep them isolated from matter, motivated the development of a range of new techniques. Examples that will be described include specially designed electromagnetic traps for long-term (e.g., weeks or more) antimatter confinement, cryogenically cooled and high-density antiparticle plasmas, “cold” or finely focused beams, methods to deliver large bursts or short temporal bursts of antiparticles, and the creation of high-quality positronium atom (e+e-) beams.

Progress in several areas will also be discussed. It includes the creation and study of antihydrogen (including gravity tests), formation of the positronium molecule (Ps2, e+e-e+e-, the first many-electron, many-positron state), positron binding to atoms and molecules, and positron-based techniques to study materials. Outstanding challenges will also be described, including developing techniques to study the many-electron, many-positron system: the “quantum” positronium-atom BEC (Bose-Einstein-condensed gas) and the classical electron-positron (“pair”) plasma.


[1] J. R. Danielson, D. H. E. Dubin, R. G. Greaves, and C. M. Surko, "Plasma and Trap-Based Techniques for Science with Positrons," Rev. Mod. Phys. 87, 247 (2015).


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