Abstract
The AEgIS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) is a CERN based experiment with the central aim to measure directly the gravitational acceleration of antihydrogen. Antihydrogen atoms will be produced via charge exchange reactions which will consist of Rydberg-excited positronium atoms sent to cooled antiprotons within an electromagnetic trap. The resulting Rydberg antihydrogen atoms will then be horizontally accelerated by an electric field gradient (Stark effect), they will then pass through a moiré deflectometer. The vertical deflection caused by the Earth's gravitational field will test for the first time the Weak Equivalence Principle for antimatter. Detection will be undertaken via a position sensitive detector. Around 103 antihydrogen atoms are needed for the gravitational measurement to be completed. The present status, current achievements and results will be presented, with special attention toward the laser excitation of positronium (Ps) to the n=3 state and the production of Ps atoms in the transmission geometry.
Highlights
The observable universe appears to consist of practically only matter with an unexplained absence of antimatter
Antihydrogen atoms will be produced via charge exchange reactions which will consist of Rydberg-excited positronium atoms sent to cooled antiprotons within an electromagnetic trap
The resulting Rydberg antihydrogen atoms will be horizontally accelerated by an electric field gradient (Stark effect), they will pass through a moiré deflectometer
Summary
The observable universe appears to consist of practically only matter with an unexplained absence of antimatter. The main properties described by the CPT theorem is that both particles and antiparticles have the same mass, momentum, energy and spin, whilst the additive quantum numbers (charge, baryon number, etc.) are inverted In 2002, the ATHENA experiments managed to create lowenergy antihydrogen (H) [8] This neutral antiatom was formed via a three-body reaction by mixing trapped antiprotons (p) with positrons (e+) at low energies. This opened the possibility to test WEP on antimatter H because it is not affected by the stray fields mentioned before. Excitation of Ps to Rydberg states directly benefits the charge exchange process since the cross section is depends on the fourth power of the Ps principal quantum number [14]
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