Observation of the 1S-2P Lyman-α transition in antihydrogen.

Autor: Ahmadi M; Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK., Alves BXR; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Baker CJ; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Bertsche W; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.; Cockcroft Institute, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington, UK., Capra A; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Carruth C; Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA., Cesar CL; Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Charlton M; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Cohen S; Department of Physics, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel., Collister R; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Eriksson S; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Evans A; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada., Evetts N; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Fajans J; Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA., Friesen T; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada., Fujiwara MC; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Makoto.Fujiwara@triumf.ca., Gill DR; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Hangst JS; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark. jeffrey.hangst@cern.ch., Hardy WN; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Hayden ME; Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada., Hunter ED; Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA., Isaac CA; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Johnson MA; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.; Cockcroft Institute, Sci-Tech Daresbury, Warrington, UK., Jones JM; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Jones SA; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Jonsell S; Department of Physics, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden., Khramov A; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Knapp P; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Kurchaninov L; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Madsen N; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., Maxwell D; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK., McKenna JTK; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Menary S; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada., Michan JM; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.; École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Swiss Plasma Center (SPC), Lausanne, Switzerland., Momose T; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. momose@chem.ubc.ca.; Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. momose@chem.ubc.ca., Munich JJ; Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada., Olchanski K; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada., Olin A; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada., Pusa P; Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK., Rasmussen CØ; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., Robicheaux F; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA., Sacramento RL; Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Sameed M; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK., Sarid E; Soreq NRC, Yavne, Israel., Silveira DM; Instituto de Fisica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil., Starko DM; Department of Physics and Astronomy, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada., Stutter G; Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark., So C; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada., Tharp TD; Physics Department, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA., Thompson RI; TRIUMF, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada., van der Werf DP; Department of Physics, College of Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK.; IRFU, CEA/Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, France., Wurtele JS; Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Nature [Nature] 2018 Sep; Vol. 561 (7722), pp. 211-215. Date of Electronic Publication: 2018 Aug 22.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0435-1
Abstrakt: In 1906, Theodore Lyman discovered his eponymous series of transitions in the extreme-ultraviolet region of the atomic hydrogen spectrum 1,2 . The patterns in the hydrogen spectrum helped to establish the emerging theory of quantum mechanics, which we now know governs the world at the atomic scale. Since then, studies involving the Lyman-α line-the 1S-2P transition at a wavelength of 121.6 nanometres-have played an important part in physics and astronomy, as one of the most fundamental atomic transitions in the Universe. For example, this transition has long been used by astronomers studying the intergalactic medium and testing cosmological models via the so-called 'Lyman-α forest' 3 of absorption lines at different redshifts. Here we report the observation of the Lyman-α transition in the antihydrogen atom, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. Using narrow-line-width, nanosecond-pulsed laser radiation, the 1S-2P transition was excited in magnetically trapped antihydrogen. The transition frequency at a field of 1.033 tesla was determined to be 2,466,051.7 ± 0.12 gigahertz (1σ uncertainty) and agrees with the prediction for hydrogen to a precision of 5 × 10 -8 . Comparisons of the properties of antihydrogen with those of its well-studied matter equivalent allow precision tests of fundamental symmetries between matter and antimatter. Alongside the ground-state hyperfine 4,5 and 1S-2S transitions 6,7 recently observed in antihydrogen, the Lyman-α transition will permit laser cooling of antihydrogen 8,9 , thus providing a cold and dense sample of anti-atoms for precision spectroscopy and gravity measurements 10 . In addition to the observation of this fundamental transition, this work represents both a decisive technological step towards laser cooling of antihydrogen, and the extension of antimatter spectroscopy to quantum states possessing orbital angular momentum.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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