E-Thesis 444 views 86 downloads
A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen / PATRICK MULLAN
Swansea University Author: PATRICK MULLAN
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Copyright: The Author, Patrick S. Mullan, 2023. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0).
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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.63617
Abstract
The apparent lack of antimatter within our local solar system, the Milky Way, and at Galactic boundaries is inconsistent with the Big Bang hypothesis. This disagreement has motivated many experiments to compare the properties and behaviour of antimatter and matter. The ALPHA (Antihydrogen Laser PHys...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2023
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Doctoral |
| Degree name: | Ph.D |
| Supervisor: | Eriksson, Stefan. and Madsen, Niels. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63617 |
| Abstract: |
The apparent lack of antimatter within our local solar system, the Milky Way, and at Galactic boundaries is inconsistent with the Big Bang hypothesis. This disagreement has motivated many experiments to compare the properties and behaviour of antimatter and matter. The ALPHA (Antihydrogen Laser PHysics Apparatus) experiment produce, trap and study antihydrogen. This synthesis involves antiprotons sourced from the limited schedule of the Antiproton Decelerator facility. The restricted availability hinders the number of novel antiproton experiments, whichcould potentially increase the number of trapped antihydrogen atoms per Antiproton Decelerator cycle. Some of these studies can be performed using a substitute for antiprotons, such as protons, allowing the limited antiprotons to be used during the implementation of their results. This research demonstrates a method that adapts an existing Penning trap to produce protons on demand within reasonable operating time scales of minutes. The availability of protons enables the consideration of new physics studies within ALPHA, including hydrogen formation, trapping, and possibly in situ hydrogen-antihydrogen comparisons. The study produced protons from radiofrequency-drivenelectrons through electron impact ionisation of the cryogenic Penning trap residual gas. The resulting positive ions were sympathetically cooled and compressed by positrons. All positive ions, except protons, were ejected from the trapping potentials using the autoresonance method. The remaining trapped population is approximately (0.9 − 1.2) × 106 protons. This research proves the feasibility of generating protons within the ALPHA apparatus, paving the way for future prospects of hydrogen generation. |
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| Keywords: |
Plasma physics, Penning trap physics, Electron impact ionisation, Proton source, Positrons, Antihydrogen physics, Experimental physics |
| College: |
Faculty of Science and Engineering |