The electron and positron magnetic moments are the most precise prediction of the standard model of particle physics. The most accurate measurement of a property of an elementary particle has been made to test this result. A new experimental method is now being employed in an attempt to improve the measurement accuracy by an order of magnitude. Positrons from a "student source" now suffice for the experiment. Progress toward a new measurement is summarized.

The first absolute experimental determinations of the differential cross-sections for the formation of ground-state positronium are presented for He, Ar, H2 and CO2 near 0 ○ . Results are compared with available theories. The ratio of the differential and integrated cross-sections for the targets exposes the higher propensity for forward-emission of positronium formed from He and H2.PACS numbers: 36.10. Dr, 34.80.Bm, 34.80.Uv The formation of positronium (Ps, the bound state of an electron and a positron) is an important channel in the scattering of positrons from atoms and molecules e.g. [1][2][3], accounting for up to 50% of the total cross-section, with experimental and theoretical investigations of its integrated formation cross-sections available for a wide range of atoms and simple molecules, e.g. [3][4][5]. Recent experimental studies also include its formation in an excited state [6] or accompanied by ionic excitation [7]. However, whilst theoretical predictions for the differential Ps formation cross-section ( dQPs dΩ ) are available for atomic [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] and molecular [17,18] hydrogen, the noble gases [9,16,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Details of the experimental arrangement employed at UCL for producing a beam of Ps atoms, together with a review of recent advances, may be found in [41]. In brief, the Ps beam is produced by charge-exchange of positrons (e + ) with a target gas (A), i.e. e + + A → Ps + A + , and detected downstream by a channel-electronmultiplier (CEM or CEMA) in coincidence with one or more γ-ray detectors (e.g. CsI or NaI) where it has been found to be composed predominantly of groundstate atoms [42,43].Depending on the relative spin orientation of its constituents, ground-state Ps may be formed in an ortho-( 3 S 1 ) or para-( 1 S 0 ) state. The two are characterized by lifetimes differing by three orders of magnitude (142 ns and 125 ps, respectively) and different annihilation modes (dominantly 3-γ and 2-γ, respectively). Only ortho-Ps reaches the detection region.In order to determine dQPs dΩ (a measure of the probability that Ps is emitted within a solid angle dΩ = 2πsinθdθ), we have measured the number of Ps atoms (ε where τ Ps is the lifetime of ortho-Ps, t its flight-time to the detector and ǫ Ps the 'true' Ps beam production efficiency. In Eq.(1), ǫ m Ps may be seen to depend on the (energy-dependent) ratio of the positron to positronium detection efficiencies R d also determined by our group [38][39][40].By studying the variation of ǫ Ps with gas pressure, optimum beam operating conditions may be determined for a given target and Ps energy [39,40,44,45]. An example is shown in Figure 1 for production of 20 eV Ps from CO 2 . Here ǫ Ps may be seen to increase and then decrease with increasing pressure. This variation may be expressed as:

An electrostatic beam has been used to perform scattering measurements with an angular-discrimination of . The total cross sections of positrons scattering from helium and krypton have been determined in the energy range (10–300) eV. This work was initially stimulated by the investigations of Nagumo et al (2011 J. Phys. Soc. Japan 80 064301), the first positron field-free measurements performed with a similarly high resolution, which found significant discrepancies at low energies with most other experiments and theories. The present results show good agreement with theories and several other measurements, even those characterized by a much poorer angular discrimination, implying a small contribution from particles elastically scattered at forward angles, as theoretically predicted for He but not for Kr.

An electrostatic positron beam, incorporating a remoderation stage to yield brightness enhancement with time-of-flight capabilities, has been developed and characterized. The beam is tunable in an energy range (5–500) eV with an angular divergence of ≃ 1° and an energy resolution of ≲ 1%.

Using a purely electrostatic positron beam, the total cross section of positrons scattering from H 2 O has been measured for the first time with a high angular discrimination (≃1°) against forward scattered projectiles. Results are presented in the energy range (10-300) eV. Significant deviations from previous measurements are found which are, if ascribed entirely to the angular acceptances of various experimental systems, in quantitative accord with ab initio theoretical predictions of the differential elastic scattering cross section. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.253401 While the apparent imbalance between matter and antimatter in the Universe remains a major puzzle in science [1,2], much progress in the understanding of the interactions between the two has been achieved through studies of controlled collisions of positrons ðe þ Þ and positronium (Ps, the short-lived atom made of an electron and a positron) with atoms and molecules [3][4][5][6][7].At low energies, the static and polarization interactions tend to cancel for positrons reducing their scattering probability in comparison with electrons. However, polarization often enhances direct ionization by positrons, so that they can be more penetrating and more ionizing than electrons, a result of potential import in analyses of astrophysical (e.g., [8]) and atmospheric events (e.g., [9]) as well as in positron-track simulations for dosimetry in positron emission tomography (e.g., [10]). In turn, these studies contribute to the motivation for investigating the interaction of e þ with water which accounts for about 60% of the human body and which is the most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.Measurements of positron-water total cross section (σ T ) were first carried out 30 years ago [11,12]. Since then, only a few new results have been added, experimentally [13][14][15] and theoretically [16,17], without a satisfactory agreement emerging among them. The integral (σ el ) and differential (dσ el =dΩ) elastic (el) scattering cross sections for e þ þ H 2 O have also been measured recently [17], complementing theoretical determinations [18,19].Because of the long-range forces involved in the scattering of charged projectiles from a polar molecule such as H 2 O, one of the major difficulties in measuring σ T (even in the case of electrons, e.g., [20][21][22][23]) lies in discriminating against the considerable flux of small forward-angle scattered particles (FSPs) (e.g., [16,19]). The largest error associated with FSPs arises from elastic scattering and rovibrational inelastic processes which cannot be easily distinguished from the incident flux via energy loss discrimination since this is smaller than (or comparable to) typical beam energy resolutions (e.g., the first vibrational excitation from the ground state J ¼ 0 is ≃1595 cm −1 [24]). Detection of FSPs leads to a systematic underestimate of the beam attenuation and, thus, the measured total cross sections. In this respect, beams that employ magnetic fields are more likely to transport FSPs from the...