Overview of recent work on laser excitation of positronium for the formation of antihydrogen

P. Yzombard (1) , C. Amsler , T. Ariga , G. Bonomi , P. Bräunig , R.S. Brusa , L. Cabaret (1) , M. Caccia , R. Caravita , F. Castelli , G. Cerchiari , D. Comparat (1) , G. Consolati , A. Demetrio , L. Di Noto , M. Doser , A. Ereditato , C. Evans , R. Ferragut , J. Fesel , A. Fontana , S. Gerber , M. Giammarchi , A. Gligorova , F. Guatieri , S. Haider , H. Holmestad , T. Huse , A. Kellerbauer , D. Krasnický , V. Lagomarsino , P. Lansonneur (2) , P. Lebrun (2) , C. Malbrunot , S. Mariazzi , V. Matveev , Z. Mazzotta , G. Nebbia , P. Nedelec (2) , M. Oberthaler , N. Pacifico , D. Pagano , L. Penasa , V. Petracek , C. Pistillo , F. Prelz , M. Prevedelli , L. Ravelli , B. Rienaecker , O.M. Røhne , A. Rotondi , M. Sacerdoti , H. Sandaker , R. Santoro , P. Scampoli , L. Smestad , F. Sorrentino , I.M. Strojek , G. Testera , I.C. Tietje , S. Vamosi , E. Widmann , J. Zmeskal , N. Zurlo

1 LAC - Laboratoire Aimé Cotton
2 IPNL - Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon

The AEgIS experiment carried out at CERN aims to form a cold antihydrogen beam to perform precision studies on gravity. A key ingredient is the creation of antihydrogen via a charge-exchange process between trapped antiprotons and Rydberg excited positronium atoms (Ps). In the present, the latest results of laser excitation of Ps are reviewed, as well as studies on a possible laser manipulation and cooling of Ps and antiprotons.

Mots clés: Positronium; Antihydrogen; Laser-matter interaction; Positronium laser excitation; Positronium laser cooling; anions laser cooling; positronium: excited state; antihydrogen: production; antihydrogen: formation; antihydrogen: beam; laser; anti-p; charge exchange; gravitation; CERN Lab; atom

Domaines: Physique Générale [physics.gen-ph]

P. Yzombard, C. Amsler, T. Ariga, G. Bonomi, P. Bräunig, et al.. Overview of recent work on laser excitation of positronium for the formation of antihydrogen. 12th International Conference on Low Energy Antiproton Physics, Mar 2016, Kanazawa, Japan. pp.011026, ⟨10.7566/JPSCP.18.011026⟩. ⟨hal-01669685⟩