NEWS – In a first, an international team of physicists from the Anti-hydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy (AEgIS) collaboration has achieved a breakthrough by demonstrating the laser cooling of Positronium.

ANTI-HYDROGEN EXPERIMENT: GRAVITY, INTERFEROMETRY, SPECTROSCOPY (AEGIS):

• Experiment approved by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research)
• The primary goal of AEgIS is the direct measurement of the Earth’s gravitational acceleration, g, on antihydrogen.
  • Once performed this could be the first direct test of the gravitational interaction between matter and antimatter.
• AEgIS is a collaboration of physicists from a number of countries in Europe and from India
• Formally accepted in 2008

POSITRONIUM

• Comprises of a bound electron ( e- ) and positron ( e+ ), is a fundamental atomic system
• Due to its very short life, it annihilates with a half life of 142 nano-seconds
• Its mass is twice the electron mass and enjoys the unique distinction of being a pure leptonic atom
• This hydrogen-like system, with halved frequencies for excitation, makes it a great contender for attempting laser cooling and thereby performing tests of fundamental theories in physics