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The ALPHA collaboration, based at CERN, has recently succeeded in confining cold antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic minimum neutral atom trap and has performed the first study of a resonant transition of the anti-atoms. The ALPHA apparatus will be described herein, with emphasis on the structural aspects, diagnostic methods and techniques that have enabled antihydrogen trapping and experimentation to be achieved. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

Spectroscopy of antihydrogen has the potential to yield high-precision tests of the CPT theorem and shed light on the matter-antimatter imbalance in the Universe. The ALPHA antihydrogen trap at CERN's Antiproton Decelerator aims to prepare a sample of antihydrogen atoms confined in an octupole-based Ioffe trap and to measure the frequency of several atomic transitions. We describe our techniques to directly measure the antiproton temperature and a new technique to cool them to below 10 K. We also show how our unique position-sensitive annihilation detector provides us with a highly sensitive method of identifying antiproton annihilations and effectively rejecting the cosmic-ray background. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A microchannel plate (MCP)/phosphor screen assembly has been used to destructively measure the radial profile of cold, confined antiprotons, electrons, and positrons in the ALPHA experiment, with the goal of using these trapped particles for antihydrogen creation and confinement. The response of the MCP to low energy (10–200 eV, <1 eV spread) antiproton extractions is compared to that of electrons and positrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report results from a novel diagnostic that probes the outer radial profile of trapped antiproton clouds. The diagnostic allows us to determine the profile by monitoring the time history of antiproton losses that occur as an octupole field in the antiproton confinement region is increased. We show several examples of how this diagnostic helps us to understand the radial dynamics of antiprotons in normal and nested Penning–Malmberg traps. Better understanding of these dynamics may aid current attempts to trap antihydrogen atoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ALPHA is an international project that has recently begun experimentation at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator (AD) facility. The primary goal of ALPHA is stable trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms with the ultimate goal of precise spectroscopic comparisons with hydrogen. We discuss the status of the ALPHA project and the prospects for antihydrogen trapping. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Substantial progress has been made in the last few years in the nascent field of antihydrogen physics. The next big step forward is expected to be the trapping of the formed antihydrogen atoms using a magnetic multipole trap. ALPHA is a new international project that started to take data in 2006 at CERN’s Antiproton Decelerator facility. The primary goal of ALPHA is stable trapping of cold antihydrogen atoms to facilitate measurements of its properties. We discuss the status of the ALPHA project and the prospects for antihydrogen trapping. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]