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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Producing the positive antihydrogen ion via radiative attachment

C M Keating, Kai Pak, Jack C. Straton

Published Mar 16, 2016• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We provide an estimate of the cross section for the radiative attachment of a second positron into the state of the ion that uses a 200-term two-positron wave function composed of explicitly correlated exponentials. This is done by analytically integrating the six-dimensional, three body photoionization integrals that enter into this result (and those utilizing, the alternative, Hylleraas wave functions) and applying the principle of detailed balance. Finally, we obtain the rate coefficient for attaching a second positron to antihydrogen as a function of temperature via a numerical integral that is a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of the product of positron velocity and cross section. Our motivation in studying the production of lies in its potential use as an intermediate stage in the cooling of antihydrogen to ultra-cold (sub-mK) temperatures for spectroscopic studies and probing the gravitational interaction of the anti-atom. Estimates of the reaction rates are given for positron temperatures T e in the range from 50 K to 5 K.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/49/7/074002

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•Jan 1, 2001•0 citations
Abstract We provide an estimate of the cross section for the radiative attachment of a second positron into the state of the ion that uses a 200-term two-positron wave function composed of explicitly correlated exponentials. This is done by analytically integrating the six-dimensional, three body photoionization integrals that enter into this result (and those utilizing, the alternative, Hylleraas wave functions) and applying the principle of detailed balance. Finally, we obtain the rate coefficient for attaching a second positron to antihydrogen as a function of temperature via a numerical integral that is a Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution of the product of positron velocity and cross section. Our motivation in studying the production of lies in its potential use as an intermediate stage in the cooling of antihydrogen to ultra-cold (sub-mK) temperatures for spectroscopic studies and probing the gravitational interaction of the anti-atom. Estimates of the reaction rates are given for positron temperatures T e in the range from 50 K to 5 K.
To overcome the numerical difficulties inherent in the Maxwell–Boltzmann integral of the velocity-weighted cross section that gives the radiative attachment rate coefficient α R A for producing the negative hydrogen ion H − or its antimatter equivalent, the positive antihydrogen ion H ¯ + , we found the analytic form for this integral. This procedure is useful for temperatures below 700 K, the region for which the production of H ¯ + has potential use as an intermediate stage in the cooling of antihydrogen to ultra-cold (sub-mK) temperatures for spectroscopic studies and probing the gravitational interaction of the anti-atom. Our results, utilizing a 50-term explicitly correlated exponential wave function, confirm our prior numerical results.
On the production of the positive antihydrogen ion Hˉ+{{{\rm \bar{H}}}^{+}}Hˉ+ via radiative attachment
We provide an estimate of the cross section for the radiative attachment of a second positron into the state of the ion using Ohmura and Ohmura's (1960 Phys. Rev. 118 154 ) effective range theory and the principle of detailed balance. The ion can potentially be created using interactions of positrons with trapped antihydrogen, and our analysis includes a discussion in which estimates of production rates are given. Motivations to produce include its potential use as an intermediary to cool antihydrogen to ultra-cold (sub-mK) temperatures for a variety of studies, including spectroscopy and probing the gravitational interaction of the anti-atom.
Abstract We present a 4-body calculation of scattering between an antihydrogen atom ( H ¯ ) and a positronium (Ps) aiming at the prediction of cross sections for the production of antihydrogen positive ions H ¯ + . The antihydrogen positive ions are expected to be a useful source of ultra-cold anti-atoms for the test of matter-antimatter gravity. We convert the Schrödinger equation to a set of coupled integro-differential equations that involve intermediate states which facilitate the internal region description of the scattering wavefunction. They are solved using a compact finite difference method. Our framework is extended to scattering between an excited Ps and H. Cross sections of the reactions, Ps (1s/2s/3s) H ¯ → e − + H ¯ + , in s-wave collisions, are calculated. It is found that the reactions originating from Ps (1s/2s) + H ¯ produce H ¯ + with a constant cross section within 0.05 eV above the threshold while the reaction cross section from Ps (3s) decreases as the collision energy increases in the same energy interval. Just above the threshold, the cross section of H ¯ + production from Ps (3s) + H ¯ in s-wave collision is 7.8 times larger than that from Ps (1s) + H ¯ in s-wave and 2.3 times larger than that from Ps (2s) + H ¯ in s-wave. The near-threshold de-excitation reaction from Ps (3s) + H ¯ occurs more rapidly than the H ¯ + production.
Synopsis We present the 4-body calculation of the antihydrogen-positronium scattering aiming at the prediction of cross sections for the production of antihydrogen positive ions. The latter are expected to be a useful source of ultra-cold atoms for the test of matter-antimatter gravity. We convert the Schrödinger equation to a set of coupled integro-differential equations that involve intermediate states and are solved using the compact finite difference method. We will present the investigation of the rearrangement reaction between the ground-state antihydrogen atom and the excited positronium.
Antihydrogen, the bound state of an antiproton and a positron, is of interest for use in precision tests of nature's fundamental symmetries. Antihydrogen formed by carefully merging cold plasmas of positrons and antiprotons has recently been trapped in magnetic traps. The efficiency of trapping is strongly dependent on the temperature of the nascent antihydrogen, which, to be trapped, must have a kinetic energy less than the trap depth of . In the conditions in the ALPHA experiment, the antihydrogen temperature seems dominated by the temperature of the positron plasma used for the synthesis. Cold positrons are therefore of paramount interest in that experiment. In this paper, we propose an alternative route to make ultra-cold positrons for enhanced antihydrogen trapping. We investigate theoretically how to extend previously successful sympathetic cooling of positrons by laser-cooled positive ions to be used for antihydrogen trapping. Using simulations, we investigate the effectiveness of such cooling in conditions similar to those in ALPHA, and discuss how the formation process and the nascent antihydrogen may be influenced by the presence of positive ions. We argue that this technique is a viable alternative to methods such as evaporative and adiabatic cooling, and may overcome limitations faced by these. Ultra-cold positrons, once available, may also be of interest for a range of other applications.
The author's ATRAP team has managed to simultaneously accumulate cold antiprotons and cold positrons. Cold antihydrogen is produced when antiprotons are repeatedly driven into collisions with cold positrons within a nested Penning trap. Efficient antihydrogen production takes place during many cycles of positron cooling of antiprotons. A first measurement of a distribution of antihydrogen states is made using a preionizing electric field between separated production and detection regions. Surviving antihydrogen is stripped in an ionization well that captures and stores the free antiproton for background-free detection. A background-free observation of cold antihydrogen atoms was made using field ionization followed by antiproton storage, a detection method that provided the first experimental information about antihydrogen atomic states. More antihydrogen atoms can be field ionized in an hour than all the anti-matter atoms that have been previously reported, and the production rate per incident high energy antiproton is higher than ever observed. The high rate and the high Rydberg states suggest that the antihydrogen is formed via three-body recombination. This report presents bibliographic citations for 10 publications and 36 lectures that were produced during 2004 under this contract. The author also was the recipient of the George Ledlie Prize at Harvard University in 2004.