After the first production of cold antihydrogen by the ATHENA and ATRAP experiments ten years ago, new second-generation experiments are aimed at measuring the fundamental properties of this anti-atom. The goal of AEGIS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) is to test the weak equivalence principle by studying the gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter with a pulsed, cold antihydrogen beam. The experiment is currently being assembled at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator. In AEGIS, antihydrogen will be produced by charge exchange of cold antiprotons with positronium excited to a high Rydberg state (n > 20). An antihydrogen beam will be produced by controlled acceleration in an electric-field gradient (Stark acceleration). The deflection of the horizontal beam due to its free fall in the gravitational field of the earth will be measured with a moiré deflectometer. Initially, the gravitational acceleration will be determined to a precision of 1%, requiring the detection of about 10 5 antihydrogen atoms. In this paper, after a general description, the present status of the experiment will be reviewed.
The AEGIS experiment at CERN : measuring the free fall of antihydrogen / A. Kellerbauer, Y. Allkofer, C. Amsler, A. S. Belov, G. Bonomi, P. Bräunig, J. Bremer, R. S. Brusa, G. Burghart, L. Cabaret , C. Canali, F. Castelli, K. Chlouba, S. Cialdi, D. Comparat, G. Consolati, L. Dassa, L. Di Noto, A. Donzella, M. Doser, A. Dudarev, T. Eisel, R. Ferragut, G. Ferrari, A. Fontana , P. Genova , M. Giammarchi, A. Gligorova, S.N. Gninenko, S. Haider, J.P. Hansen, F. Haug, S.D. Hogan , L.V. Jørgensen, T. Kaltenbacher, D. Krasnický, V. Lagomarsino, S. Mariazzi, V.A. Matveev , F. Merkt, F. Moia, G. Nebbia, P. Nédélec, T. Niinikoski, M.K. Oberthaler , D. Perini, V. Petráček, F. Prelz , M. Prevedelli, C. Regenfus, C. Riccardi, J. Rochet, O. Røhne, A. Rotondi, M. Sacerdoti , H. Sandaker, M. Špaček , J. Storey, G. Testera, A. Tokareva, D. Trezzi, R. Vaccarone, F. Villa, U. Warring, S. Zavatarelli, A. Zenoni. - In: HYPERFINE INTERACTIONS. - ISSN 0304-3843. - 209:1/3(2012 May), pp. 43-49.
The AEGIS experiment at CERN : measuring the free fall of antihydrogen
F. Castelli;S. Cialdi;M. Sacerdoti;D. Trezzi;F. Villa;
2012
Abstract
After the first production of cold antihydrogen by the ATHENA and ATRAP experiments ten years ago, new second-generation experiments are aimed at measuring the fundamental properties of this anti-atom. The goal of AEGIS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) is to test the weak equivalence principle by studying the gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter with a pulsed, cold antihydrogen beam. The experiment is currently being assembled at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator. In AEGIS, antihydrogen will be produced by charge exchange of cold antiprotons with positronium excited to a high Rydberg state (n > 20). An antihydrogen beam will be produced by controlled acceleration in an electric-field gradient (Stark acceleration). The deflection of the horizontal beam due to its free fall in the gravitational field of the earth will be measured with a moiré deflectometer. Initially, the gravitational acceleration will be determined to a precision of 1%, requiring the detection of about 10 5 antihydrogen atoms. In this paper, after a general description, the present status of the experiment will be reviewed.
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