NewScientist reports, Researchers at CERN think they have created and stored thousands of antiatoms in a particle trap. ❋ Unknown (2002)
Charged antiparticles can be kept away from the walls of a matter-based container using electric fields, but neutral antiatoms are much harder to trap, and are typically annihilated as soon as they are created. ❋ Unknown (2011)
They also decided to test how long they could keep the antiatoms trapped. ❋ Unknown (2011)
If the newly formed antiatoms were extremely cold and moving very slowly, the extremely weak magnetic force was enough to keep them from hitting the walls of the container. ❋ Unknown (2011)
Theoretical calculations show that after several minutes, the antiatoms should all be in the ground state. ❋ Unknown (2011)
Last November, the ALPHA team reported that it managed to trap antiatoms by taking advantage of a very tiny, weak magnet inside each atom. ❋ Unknown (2011)
In the study, published in the journal Nature Physics, researchers report trapping some 300 antiatoms. ❋ Unknown (2011)
They created the antiatoms by mixing positrons and antiprotons very carefully inside a "magnetic trap" - a magnetic field generated by a powerful superconducting magnet. ❋ Unknown (2011)
It reported trapping antiatoms of antihydrogen - the antimatter counterpart of a hydrogen atom - for 1,000 seconds. ❋ Unknown (2011)
Holding antiatoms captive for several minutes opens up a new range of possible experiments to probe the nature of antimatter, said Fujiwara, a research scientist at Vancouver-based TRIUMF and an adjunct professor at the University of Calgary. ❋ Unknown (2011)
At the time, it reported that it had held onto the antiatoms for less than one-fifth of a second. ❋ Unknown (2011)
For example, researchers can point lasers and microwaves at the antiatoms and figure out how the colours of light they shine back compare to those shone back by hydrogen atoms under the same circumstances, Fujiwara said. ❋ Unknown (2011)
Aiming the lasers and microwaves precisely at the antiatoms using the right settings is very difficult right after the antiatoms are formed because they are in what's called an excited state - the positrons are orbiting the nucleus of the antiatom, but they're very far away, and they're constantly changing their orbit. ❋ Unknown (2011)
In recent months, Fujiwara said, the ALPHA team has figured out how to create very cold antiparticles and mix them more gently to produce and trap antiatoms more efficiently, successfully trapping an average of one antiatom per trial. ❋ Unknown (2011)
