Laser Manipulation of the Motion of Antiatom

Abstract

The ALPHA collaboration (Antihydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus), based at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), has reported the world’s first successful manipulation of antimatter using the force of laser light. By creating and trapping >1,000 antihydrogen atoms, ALPHA has demonstrated that the motion of antihydrogen atoms can be controlled in the same way as in ordinary matter, using precisely controlled laser pulses. This technique has been used to cool antihydrogen atoms down to near absolute zero. The success of laser cooling antimatter atoms would lead to dramatic progress in antimatter research as well as to the development of new antimatter quantum technologies and to the creation of antimatter molecules.