TrappedIons.org

D. Mitchard

Production of Slow Protonium in Vacuum

N. Zurlo [1], M. Amoretti [2], C. Amsler [3], G. Bonomi [4], C. Carraro [5], C. L. Cesar, M. Charlton [6], M. Doser [7], A. Fontana, R. Funakoshi, P. Genova, R. S. Hayano, L. V. Jorgensen, A. Kellerbauer [7], V. Lagomarsino [5], R. Landua [7], E. Lodi Rizzini [1], M. Macri', N. Madsen [6], G. Manuzio [5], D. Mitchard [6], P. Montagna, L. G. Posada, H. Pruys [3], C. Regenfus [3], A. Rotondi, G. Testera [2], D. P. Van der Werf, A. Variola [2], L. Venturelli [1], Y. Yamazaki

Abstract

We describe how protonium, the quasi-stable antiproton-proton bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the molecular ion H$_2^+$ in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events in the ATHENA experiment, evidence is presented for protonium production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around $n$ = 70, with low angular momenta. This work provides a new 2-body system for study using laser spectroscopic techniques.

Evidence For The Production Of Slow Antiprotonic Hydrogen In Vacuum

N. Zurlo [1,2], M. Amoretti [3], C. Amsler [4], G. Bonomi [5,6], C. Carraro [3,7], C. L. Cesar [8], M. Charlton [9], M. Doser [10], A. Fontana [6,11], R. Funakoshi [12], P. Genova [6,11], R. S. Hayano [12,9], L. V. Jorgensen, A. Kellerbauer [10], V. Lagomarsino [3,7], R. Landua [10], E. Lodi Rizzini [1,2,3], M. Macrì, N. Madsen [9], G. Manuzio [3,7], D. Mitchard [9], P. Montagna [6,11,12], L. G. Posada, H. Pruys [4], C. Regenfus [4], A. Rotondi [6,11], G. Testera [3,9], D. P. Van der Werf, A. Variola [3], L. Venturelli [1,2], Y. Yamazaki [13]

Abstract

We present evidence showing how antiprotonic hydrogen, the quasistable antiproton-proton (pbar-p) bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the hydrogen molecular ion (H2+) in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events, evidence is presented for antiprotonic hydrogen production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around n=70, and with low angular momenta. The slow antiprotonic hydrogen may be studied using laser spectroscopic techniques.