CERN experiment produces first beam of antihydrogen atoms for hyperfine study
Geneva, 21 January 2014. The ASACUSA experiment at CERN2 has succeeded for the first time in producing a beam of antihydrogen atoms. In a paper published today , the ASACUSA collaboration reports the unambiguous detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 metres downstream of their production, where the perturbing influence of the magnetic fields used initially to produce the antiatoms is small. This result is a significant step towards precise hyperfine spectroscopy of antihydrogen atoms. Primordial antimatter has so far never been observed in the Universe, and its absence remains a major scientific enigma. Nevertheless, it is possible to produce significant amounts of antihydrogen in experiments at CERN by mixing antielectrons (positrons) and low energy antiprotons produced by the Antiproton Decelerator. The spectra of hydrogen and antihydrogen are predicted to be identical, so any tiny difference between them would immediately open a window to new physics, and could help in solving the antimatter mystery.
