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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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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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Published: Swansea, Wales, UK 2023
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Eriksson, Stefan. and Madsen, Niels.
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63617
first_indexed 2023-06-09T14:58:30Z
last_indexed 2024-11-15T18:01:57Z
id cronfa63617
recordtype RisThesis
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spelling 2023-09-29T10:33:02.4425696 v2 63617 2023-06-09 A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen d7fd86e9f9106df4ca46d14d45a52229 PATRICK MULLAN PATRICK MULLAN true false 2023-06-09 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. E-Thesis Swansea, Wales, UK Plasma physics, Penning trap physics, Electron impact ionisation, Proton source, Positrons, Antihydrogen physics, Experimental physics 23 5 2023 2023-05-23 10.23889/SUthesis.63617 COLLEGE NANME COLLEGE CODE Swansea University Eriksson, Stefan. and Madsen, Niels. Doctoral Ph.D EPSRC Studentship (2003689) 2023-09-29T10:33:02.4425696 2023-06-09T15:52:37.5289067 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Physics PATRICK MULLAN 1 63617__27800__7406942fd6f24c95bd55693572e5df22.pdf 2023_Mullan_PS.final.63617.pdf 2023-06-09T15:58:54.5920154 Output 16233193 application/pdf E-Thesis – open access true Copyright: The Author, Patrick S. Mullan, 2023. Distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (CC BY 4.0). true eng
title A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
spellingShingle A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
PATRICK MULLAN
title_short A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
title_full A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
title_fullStr A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
title_full_unstemmed A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
title_sort A proton source in the ALPHA apparatus for precision measurements of antihydrogen and hydrogen
author_id_str_mv d7fd86e9f9106df4ca46d14d45a52229
author_id_fullname_str_mv d7fd86e9f9106df4ca46d14d45a52229_***_PATRICK MULLAN
author PATRICK MULLAN
author2 PATRICK MULLAN
format E-Thesis
publishDate 2023
institution Swansea University
doi_str_mv 10.23889/SUthesis.63617
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Physics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Biosciences, Geography and Physics - Physics
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description 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.
published_date 2023-05-23T14:31:17Z
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