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Updated: May 22, 2026

Preparing an Isotopically Pure 229Th Ion Beam for Studies of 229mTh

Preparing an Isotopically Pure ²²⁹Th Ion Beam for Studies of ^229mTh

Published on: May 3, 2019

Trapped antihydrogen in its ground state.

G Gabrielse¹, R Kalra, W S Kolthammer

¹Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA. gabrielse@physics.harvard.edu

Physical Review Letters

|May 1, 2012

Summary

Researchers confined antihydrogen atoms (H¯) in a Ioffe trap, achieving ground state confinement. This advancement, producing more simultaneously trapped H¯ atoms than before, is crucial for future precision spectroscopy.

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Area of Science:

Atomic physics
Antimatter research

Background:

Antihydrogen (H¯) is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen.
Confining antihydrogen atoms is essential for studying their properties.
Previous experiments faced challenges in producing and trapping sufficient numbers of antihydrogen atoms.

Purpose of the Study:

To improve the number of simultaneously trapped ground-state antihydrogen atoms.
To enable future laser cooling and high-precision spectroscopic studies of antihydrogen.

Main Methods:

Utilizing a Ioffe trap for antihydrogen atom confinement.
Ensuring sufficient confinement times (15-1000 s) for atoms to reach their ground state.
Addressing challenges in the interaction of cold antiprotons (p¯) and positrons (e(+)).

Main Results:

Achieved an average of 5±1 simultaneously confined ground-state antihydrogen atoms.
Demonstrated a significant increase in the number of trapped antihydrogen atoms compared to previous reports.
Overcame some reproducibility challenges in antiproton-antiproton and positron interactions.

Conclusions:

The improved trapping of ground-state antihydrogen atoms is a critical step forward.
This enhanced capability is vital for future experiments, including laser cooling and precision spectroscopy.
Further advancements in producing cold antiprotons and positrons are needed to scale up antihydrogen production.