Cold trapped positrons and progress to cold antihydrogen

A new physical mechanism for positron accumulation is explained and demonstrated. Strongly magnetized Rydberg positronium is formed and then ionized, allowing us to trap equal numbers of either positrons or electrons over a wide range of conditions. Antiprotons are trapped, cooled, and stacked from the new Antiproton Decelerator facility for the first time. Combining positrons and antiprotons, we have demonstrated the first positron cooling of antiprotons. The cooling takes place in a 4.2 K, nested Penning trap where conditions are ideal for the eventual goal of the formation of antihydrogen.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2002

Author dc:creator

• Estrada, John Karl, 1970-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gerald Gabrielse and Daniel Kleppner.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/16797

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/16797