Cold-Antimatter Physics

TL;DR

This paper discusses the potential of cold neutral antimatter, specifically antihydrogen, as a tool for testing fundamental principles like CPT symmetry and gravity, highlighting recent experimental progress at CERN.

Contribution

It provides an overview of antihydrogen production techniques and recent experimental results, emphasizing its role in fundamental physics tests.

Findings

Successful production of low-energy antihydrogen at CERN

Antihydrogen as a promising probe for CPT and gravitational tests

Review of experimental advancements in antihydrogen research

Abstract

The CPT theorem and the Weak Equivalence Principle are foundational principles on which the standard description of the fundamental interactions is based. The validity of such basic principles should be tested using the largest possible sample of physical systems. Cold neutral antimatter (low-energy antihydrogen atoms) could be a tool for testing the CPT symmetry with high precision and for a direct measurement of the gravitational acceleration of antimatter. After several years of experimental efforts, the production of low-energy antihydrogen through the recombination of antiprotons and positrons is a well-established experimental reality. An overview of the ATHENA experiment at CERN will be given and the main experimental results on antihydrogen formation will be reviewed.