Experiments with low-energy antimatter

¹ Politecnico of Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, 20133 Milano, Italy
² INFN Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
³ Laboratory for High Energy Physics, Albert Einstein Center for Fundamental Physics, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
⁴ Institute for Nuclear Research of the Russian Academy of Science, Moscow 117312, Russia
⁵ Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, via Branze 38, 25123 Brescia, Italy
⁶ INFN Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy
⁷ Kirchhoff-Institute for Physics, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 227, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
⁸ Physics Department, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
⁹ Department of Physics, University of Trento, via Sommarive 14, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
¹⁰ TIFPA/INFN Trento, via Sommarive 14, 38123 Povo, Trento, Italy
¹¹ Laboratory Aimé Cotton, CNRS, University of Paris-Sud, ENS Cachan, Bât. 505, 91405 Orsay, France
¹² Department of Science, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy
¹³ Department of Physics, University of Genova, via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
¹⁴ INFN Genova, via Dodecaneso 33, 16146 Genova, Italy
¹⁵ Department of Physics, University of Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano, Italy
¹⁶ Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Saupfercheckweg 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany
¹⁷ Czech Technical University, Prague, Brehová 7, 11519 Prague 1, Czech Republic
¹⁸ Institute of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen, Allégaten 55, 5007 Bergen, Norway
¹⁹ University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
²⁰ Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Sem Sælandsvei 24, 0371 Oslo, Norway
²¹ Stefan Meyer Institute for Subatomic Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Boltzmanngasse 3, 1090 Vienna, Austria
²² INFN Padova, via Marzolo 8, 35131 Padova, Italy
²³ Institute of Nuclear Physics, CNRS/IN2p3, University of Lyon 1, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
²⁴ University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 6/2, 40126 Bologna, Italy
²⁵ Department of Physics, University of Pavia, via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy
²⁶ Department of Physics, University of Napoli Federico II, Complesso Universitario di Monte S. Angelo, 80126, Napoli, Italy

^a Corresponding author: giovanni.consolati@polimi.it

Published online: 2 June 2015

Abstract

Investigations on antimatter allow us to shed light on fundamental issues of contemporary physics. The only antiatom presently available, antihydrogen, is produced making use of the Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility at CERN. International collaborations currently on the floor (ALPHA, ASACUSA and ATRAP) have succeeded in producing antihydrogen and are now involved in its confinement and manipulation. The AEGIS experiment is currently completing the commissioning of the apparatus which will generate and manipulate antiatoms. The present paper, after a report on the main results achieved with antihydrogen physics, gives an overview of the AEGIS experiment, describes its current status and discusses its first target.