Are Antiprotons Forever?

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates long-term storage of antiprotons in a Penning trap at ultra-low energies, with annihilation rates below background, highlighting potential for future low-energy experiments.

Contribution

It presents the first demonstration of very long storage times for antiprotons at energies below 1 eV in a Penning trap under less-than-ideal vacuum conditions.

Findings

Antiprotons stored for extended periods with low annihilation rates.

Cooling antiprotons below 1 eV reduces annihilation significantly.

Implications for portable and ultra-low energy antiproton experiments.

Abstract

Up to one million antiprotons from a single LEAR spill have been captured in a large Penning trap. Surprisingly, when the antiprotons are cooled to energies significantly below 1 eV, the annihilation rate falls below background. Thus, very long storage times for antiprotons have been demonstrated in the trap, even at the compromised vacuum conditions imposed by the experimental set up. The significance for future ultra-low energy experiments, including portable antiproton traps, is discussed.