A novel cooling scheme for antiprotons

Abstract

We propose a novel technique which uses laser-cooled negative osmium ions for sympathetic cooling of antiprotons. Temperatures down to the sub-millikelvin range might be achievable. These antiprotons could be used to form antihydrogen at ultra-cold temperatures, thus allowing efficient magnetic trapping of antihydrogen for high-resolution laser spectroscopy. Antihydrogen at sub-milhkelvin temperatures might also enable first direct measurements of the gravitational acceleration of antimatter. Currently, no other technique exists which allows the cooling of large numbers of antiprotons to temperatures below that of the surrounding trap. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.