News

Investigation of the fine structure of antihydrogen

Niels Madsen — Wed, 19 Feb 2020 16:40:34 +0000

On February 19, 2020, ALPHA published the first investigation of the fine structure of Antihydrogen. These measurements of transitions in the 1S-2P manifold, in combination we previous detailed measurements of the 1S-2S transition has allowed us to determine the 2S_1/2-2P_1/2 splitting (the classic Lamb shift) in antihydrogen. The results appeared today in Nature.

In the News.

Timelapse of the ALPHA-g addition to the ALPHA experiment

Niels Madsen — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 13:16:03 +0000

In 2018 the ALPHA experiment was expanded with the addition of ALPHA-g. To deliver antiparticles to both ALPHA-g and
ALPHA-2 (Spectroscopy trap) a beamline to transport both antiprotons and positrons was also installed. The timelapse
videos below show the massive changes, from installation of the beamline, to the addition of new equipment platforms (in
stainless steel(!)) and the ALPHA-g main solenoid and cryostat as well as control systems etc.

https://videos.cern.ch/record/2646238

Lyman-alpha transition observed in antihydrogen

Niels Madsen — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 08:53:51 +0000

The ALPHA collaboration has for the first time observed single-photon excitation of antihydrogen atoms from the ground (1S) state to the 2P state using 121nm pulsed laser light - the so-called lyman-alpha line of the Lyman series.

First 1S-2S line shape published in Nature

Niels Madsen — Wed, 04 Apr 2018 16:42:44 +0000

Our latest breakthrough, the first detailed study of one of the hyperfine components of the 1S-2S line in trapped antihydrogen has been published in Nature and is the most precise and most accurate measurement of antimatter to date. This builds on years of work, developing techniques to manipulate super-cold antiprotons and positrons, create trapped antihydrogen and detect the very few atoms that are available to the experiment. It is another crucial step towards precision comparisons of antihydrogen and hydrogen.

ALPHA Featured in the CERN courrier

Niels Madsen — Sat, 17 Feb 2018 17:27:36 +0000

Following 30 years of effort by the low-energy antimatter community at CERN, the ALPHA collaboration has made seminal measurements of antihydrogen’s spectral structure in a bid to test nature’s fundamental symmetries.

Read full article here.

ALPHA Collaboration Meeting January 24-26 January 2018

Niels Madsen — Thu, 25 Jan 2018 13:26:42 +0000

Participants in ALPHAs annual collaboration meeting at CERN.

Observation of the 1S-2S transition in trapped antihydrogen published in Nature

Eoin Butler — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 11:35:26 +0000

Artist's impression of a cloud of trapped antihydrogen atoms (Chukman So)

Our latest breakthrough, the first observation of the 1S-2S transition in trapped antihydrogen has been published in Nature and is the first time a spectral line has been observed in antihydrogen. This builds on years of work, developing techniques to manipulate super-cold antiprotons and positrons, create trapped antihydrogen and detect the very few atoms that are available to the experiment. It is another crucial step towards precision comparisons of antihydrogen and hydrogen.

The 2016 run is over

Eoin Butler — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 11:16:45 +0000

We've shut down for 2016 - see you next year!

ELENA finishes commissioning

Eoin Butler — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 23:00:00 +0000

ELENA, a new ring that will slow the Antiproton Decelerator's antiprotons down even further has now finished construction and is entering the commissioning phase. Read about it here and check out the timelapse video of the construction below. For more information, read the CERN Courier article or visit the ELENA project website.

Canadian members of ALPHA win NSERC John C. Polanyi Award

Eoin Butler — Tue, 04 Feb 2014 10:45:06 +0000

Members of the ALPHA Collaboration from Canada were recently awarded the NSERC John C. Polanyi Award for their contributions to ALPHA's sucesses in trapping and measuring antihydrogen atoms. The award honours an individual or team whose Canadian-based research has led to a recent outstanding advance in the natural sciences or engineering.

Some members of the Canadian group at ALPHA

The Canadian group contributes accross the spectrum of ALPHA's work, but particularly in the areas of electronics and analysis for the annihilation detector, and the development of the microwave system for measuring antihydrogen's ground-state structure. The design and construction of ALPHA-2's atom-trap cryostat was also led by Canadian institutes.

The full Canadian team at ALPHA is Nathan Evetts, Andrea Gutierrez, Prof. Walter Hardy, Mario Michan, Prof. Takamasa Momose, Sarah Seif El Nasr (University of British Columbia), Dr. Timothy Friesen, Dr. Richard Hydomako, Prof. Robert Thompson (University of Calgary), Mohammad Ashkezari, Ryan Dunlop, Prof. Mike Hayden (Simon Fraser University), Dr. Makoto C. Fujiwara, Dr. David Gill, Leonid Kurchaninov, Konstantin Olchanski, Prof. Art Olin, Dr. James Storey, Dr. Simone Stracka (TRIUMF), Chanpreet Amole, Andrea Capra, Prof. Scott Menary (York University).