Focusing of a Rydberg Positronium Beam with an Ellipsoidal Electrostatic Mirror

Jones, Adric; Moxom, Jeremy; Rutbeck-Goldman, Harris; Osorno, Kevin; Cecchini, G. G.; Fuentes-Garcia, Melina; Greaves, R. G.; Adams, Daniel J.; Tom, H. W. K.; Mills, A. P.; Leventhal, M.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.119.053201

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Deceleration and trapping of Rydberg Ps has not yet been achieved, but electrostatic guiding has been previously demonstrated using quadrupolar electric fields [37,38]. An electrostatic mirror has also been developed that can focus a Rydberg Ps beam over a distance of 6 m [39]. Here we report the development of a multiring device that can be used to confine and guide low-field-seeking atoms in two dimensions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiring electrostatic guide for Rydberg positronium

et al. 2019

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We report the results of experiments in which positronium (Ps) atoms, optically excited to Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum numbers ranging from n = 13 to 19, were transported along the axis of a multiring electrode structure. By applying alternate positive and negative potentials to the ring electrodes, inhomogeneous electric fields suitable for guiding low-field-seeking atoms along the guide axis were generated. The multiring configuration used has the advantage that once the atoms are confined within it appropriate time-varying fields can be generated for deceleration and trapping. However, in this type of structure the possibility of nonadiabatic transitions of the fast (100 km/s) Ps atoms to unconfined high-field-seeking states exists. We show that for typical guiding fields this is not a significant loss mechanism and that efficient Ps transport can be achieved. Our data are in accordance with a Landau-Zener analysis of adiabatic transport through the field minima and Monte Carlo simulations that take into account Ps velocity distributions, electric dipole moments, and lifetimes, as well as the electric-field distributions in the guide.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiring electrostatic guide for Rydberg positronium

et al. 2019

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“…Direct measurement of the gravitational interaction, thereby tests the weak equivalence principle of such particles, has not yet been attempted [6,7]. Besides muonium, only antihydrogen (H =p+e + ) [8][9][10] and positronium (Ps = e − +e + ) [11][12][13] have been proposed as laboratory candidates for antimatter gravity experiments, and M is the only viable candidate for testing gravity with purely leptonic, second generation matter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a cold atomic muonium beam for next generation atomic physics and gravity experiments

Sótér

Knecht

2021

SciPost Phys. Proc.

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A high-intensity, low-emittance atomic muonium (M =\mu^+ + e^-=μ++e−) beam is being developed, which would enable improving the precision of M spectroscopy measurements, and may allow a direct observation of the M gravitational interaction. Measuring the free fall of M atoms would be the first test of the weak equivalence principle using elementary antimatter (\mu^+μ+) and a purely leptonic system. Such an experiment relies on the high intensity, continuous muon beams available at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, Switzerland), and a proposed novel M source. In this paper, the theoretical motivation and principles of this experiment are described.

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“…This early work subsequently led to the development of the methods of Rydberg-Stark deceleration, initiated by Merkt and co-workers, for controlling the translational motion of, and trapping, atoms and molecules in high Rydberg states. The experimental tools that have been developed in this context include deflectors [3,6,7], guides [8][9][10][11], velocity selectors [12], lenses [13], mirrors [14,15], beamsplitters [16], decelerators [6,17,18], and traps [19][20][21][22][23][24]. These have been implemented with atoms composed of matter and antimatter, and with molecules.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matter-wave interferometry with atoms in high Rydberg states

Palmer

Hogan

2019

Molecular Physics

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Matter-wave interferometry has been performed with helium atoms in high Rydberg states.In the experiments the atoms were prepared in coherent superpositions of Rydberg states with different electric dipole moments. Upon the application of an inhomogeneous electric field, the different forces on these internal state components resulted in the generation of coherent superpositions of momentum states. Using a sequence of microwave and electric field gradient pulses the internal Rydberg states were entangled with the momentum states associated with the external motion of these matter waves. Under these conditions matter-wave interference was observed by monitoring the populations of the Rydberg states as the magnitudes and durations of the pulsed electric field gradients were adjusted. The results of the experiments have been compared to, and are in excellent quantitative agreement with, matter-wave interference patterns calculated for the corresponding pulse sequences. For the Rydberg states used, the spatial extent of the Rydberg electron wavefunction was ∼ 320 nm. Matter-wave interferometry with such giant atoms is of interest in the exploration of the boundary between quantum and classical mechanics. The results presented also open new possibilities for measurements of the acceleration of Rydberg positronium or antihydrogen atoms in the Earth's gravitational field. arXiv:1907.07649v1 [physics.atom-ph] 17 Jul 2019Recently, in a similar vein, coherent momentum splitting of laser cooled rubidium atoms, prepared in chip-based magnetic traps, was demonstrated using pulsed inhomogeneous magnetic fields and a sequence of radio-frequency (RF) pulses to prepare, and coherently manipulate, ground-state Zeeman sublevels [44]. In these experiments a π/2 pulse of RF radiation was first applied to prepare a coherent superposition of sublevels with magnetic dipole moments of equal magnitude but opposite orientation, in a homogeneous background magnetic field. The atoms were then subjected to a pulsed inhomogeneous magnetic field. The forces exerted by this field gradient on each component of the internal-state superposition resulted in the generation of a superposition of momentum states. Spatial interferences between the resulting pairs of matter waves were then observed by state-selective imaging of the atoms

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Focusing of a Rydberg Positronium Beam with an Ellipsoidal Electrostatic Mirror

Cited by 21 publications

References 48 publications

Multiring electrostatic guide for Rydberg positronium

Multiring electrostatic guide for Rydberg positronium

Development of a cold atomic muonium beam for next generation atomic physics and gravity experiments

Matter-wave interferometry with atoms in high Rydberg states

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