Microwave Spectroscopy of Antihydrogen

The Big Bang is predicted to have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter; however, the universe is dominated by matter and there is much less of its counterpart. The ALPHA (Antihydrogen Laser PHysics Apparatus) collaboration, based out of CERN, investigates the matter-antimatter asymmetry problem by creating and performing experiments on antihydrogen to compare it with hydrogen. Antihydrogen is composed of a single antiproton and positron, the antimatter counterparts of the proton and electron, respectively. Studying and understanding the atomic energy levels of antihydrogen is important because current theories of quantum electrodynamics predict these levels to be identical to hydrogen. The splitting of the 2S and 2P energy levels at zero magnetic field is known as the Lamb Shift and is an important transition in hydrogen. This project’s goal is to make a direct precision measurement of the Lamb shift in antihydrogen, which has the potential to lead to the discovery of a matter/antimatter difference. This project’s success will further the work of the ALPHA collaboration and be a significant result for all participating institutions, which benefits the greater quantum physics community.

Faculty Supervisor:

Timothy Friesen

Student:

Partner:

Swansea University

Discipline:

Physics

Sector:

Education

University:

University of Calgary

Program: