Real-time antiproton annihilation vertexing with submicrometer resolution.

Area of Science:

• Antimatter physics
• Gravitational measurements
• Particle detection

Background:

• The AEḡIS experiment seeks to precisely measure the free fall of antihydrogen in Earth's gravitational field.
• Accurate vertexing of antiproton annihilations is crucial for determining antihydrogen's trajectory.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce and validate a novel vertexing detector for antiproton annihilations.
• Demonstrate the detector's capability for high-precision position measurement.
• Assess the sensor's suitability for antihydrogen gravity measurements.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a modified mobile camera sensor as a vertexing detector.
• Experimentally measured the position of antiproton annihilation events.
• Evaluated the sensor's sensitivity to light for in situ calibration.

Main Results:

• Achieved position measurement accuracy of [Formula: see text] μm for antiproton annihilations.
• Demonstrated a 35-fold improvement in real-time antiproton vertexing accuracy.
• Confirmed the sensor's light sensitivity enables in situ moiré deflectometer calibration.

Conclusions:

• The developed vertexing detector is a breakthrough technology for the AEḡIS experiment.
• The sensor significantly reduces systematic errors in antihydrogen gravity measurements.
• This technology will form the basis for large-area detectors for future antihydrogen studies.