The ASACUSA Micromegas Tracker: A cylindrical, bulk Micromegas detector for antimatter research

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• Atomic Physics
• Antimatter Research

Background:

• Antiproton-nucleon annihilation studies are crucial for understanding fundamental symmetries.
• Antihydrogen formation is key to testing Charge, Parity, and Time (CPT) symmetry.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the ASACUSA Micromegas Tracker (AMT) detector design and capabilities.
• To investigate antihydrogen formation processes within the ASACUSA cusp trap.
• To enable precise tests of CPT symmetry invariance using antihydrogen.

Main Methods:

• Three-dimensional reconstruction of antiproton-nucleon annihilation vertices.
• Utilizing the ASACUSA Micromegas Tracker (AMT) detector in a cusp trap environment.
• Implementing a dedicated data acquisition system for the AMT detector.

Main Results:

• Successful reconstruction of annihilation vertices in three dimensions.
• Demonstration of the AMT detector's functionality in the ASACUSA cusp trap.
• Initial performance evaluation using cosmic ray data.

Conclusions:

• The ASACUSA Micromegas Tracker is a functional device for antiproton annihilation vertex reconstruction.
• The detector is suitable for antihydrogen formation studies and CPT symmetry tests.
• Further performance characterization with antiprotons is warranted.