Detection of Trapped Antihydrogen

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. Introduction

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 1-8

3. Theory

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 9-27

4. The ALPHA Apparatus and Procedures

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 29-60

5. The ALPHA Silicon Detector

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 61-88

6. Event Reconstruction in the ALPHA Detector

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 89-119

7. Rejection of Background Events

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 121-134

8. The Trapping of Antihydrogen

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 135-149

9. Future Prospects and Conclusion

   • Richard Hydomako

   Pages 151-155

10. Back Matter

    Pages 157-169

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In 2010, the ALPHA collaboration achieved a first for mankind: the stable, long-term storage of atomic antimatter, a project carried out a the Antiproton Decelerator facility at CERN. A crucial element of this observation was a dedicated silicon vertexing detector used to identify and analyze antihydrogen annihilations. This thesis reports the methods used to reconstruct the annihilation location. Specifically, the methods used to identify and extrapolate charged particle tracks and estimate the originating annihilation location are outlined. Finally, the experimental results demonstrating the first-ever magnetic confinement of antihydrogen atoms are presented. These results rely heavily on the silicon detector, and as such, the role of the annihilation vertex reconstruction is emphasized.

• ALPHA Silicon Detector at CERN
• Antihydrogen Detection
• Antihydrogen Trapping
• Antiproton Annihilation
• Cosmic Ray Background Suppression
• Magnetic Confinement of Antihydrogen
• Vertexing Detector

• , Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada

  Richard Hydomako

Dr. Richard Allan Hydomako
University of Calgary
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Canada

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