NationMaster - Encyclopedia: ATRAP

The ATRAP collaboration at CERN developed out of TRAP, a collaboration whose members pioneered cold antiprotons, cold positrons, and first made the ingredients of cold antihydrogen to interact. ATRAP members also pioneered accurate hydrogen spectroscopy and first observed hot antihydrogen atoms. The collaboration includes investigators from Harvard, the University of Bonn, the Max Plack Institute for Quantum Optics, the University of Amsterdam, York University, Seoul National University, and NIST. CERN logo CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, the worlds largest particle physics laboratory, situated on the border between France and Switzerland, just west of Geneva. ... The antiproton(aka pbar) is the antiparticle of the proton. ... The first detection of the positron in 1932 by Carl D. Anderson The positron is the antiparticle or the antimatter counterpart of the electron. ... Antihydrogen is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. ... General Name, Symbol, Number hydrogen, H, 1 Chemical series nonmetals Group, Period, Block 1, 1, s Appearance colorless Atomic mass 1. ... Spectrum of fluorescent lights showing prominent mercury peaks. ... Harvard, see Harvard (disambiguation) Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA and a member of the Ivy League. ... The main building, viewed from the Hofgarten. ... From Athenaeum Illustre to University In January 1632 two internationally acclaimed scientists, Caspar Barlaeus and Gerardus Vossius, held their inaugural speech in the Athenaeum Illustre - the illustrious school - which had its seat in the 14th-century Agnietenkapel. ... York University (YorkU) is a large comprehensive university, located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ... Seoul National University is a major university whose main campus is located in Seoul, South Korea. ... As a non-regulatory agency of the United States Department of Commerce’s Technology Administration, the National Institute of Standards (NIST) develops and promotes measurement, standards, and technology to enhance productivity, facilitate trade, and improve the quality of life. ...

External link

http://hussle.harvard.edu/~atrap/

Categories: Particle experiments | Physics stubs

Results from FactBites:

First glimpse inside cold antimatter atoms (1164 words)
	ATRAP uses antiprotons from CERN's Antiproton Decelerator, and positrons from a radioactive source, to produce cold antihydrogen.
	The ATRAP scientists are quite sure that the antihydrogen atoms are created when two positrons collide with one antiproton in a process called "three body recombination", in part because they had predicted that this process would produce antihydrogen atoms at a high rate.
	ATRAP scientists caution that they still have many experiments to do, much apparatus to design, many techniques to invent, many student to train, and many night shifts to work before there is a precise comparison of antihydrogen and hydrogen.

The Antimatter Factory - ATRAP (229 words)
	The goal of ATRAP is to produce cold antihydrogen atoms and use laser spectroscopy to check, with very high accuracy, if the properties of antihydrogen and hydrogen atoms are the same.
	To reach their goal, ATRAP physicists have two main steps to accomplish : they have to build the antiatoms first, and then be able to store them for a period long enough to perform all the required measurements.
	For step one, ATRAP will use the world's most intricate Penning trap structure, able to accumulate antiprotons coming from the AD and positrons originating from a radioactive source at the same time.

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