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L. Venturelli

Publications and source records attributed to L. Venturelli.

35 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2018

Monte-Carlo based performance assessment of ASACUSA's antihydrogen detector

An antihydrogen detector consisting of a thin BGO disk and a surrounding plastic scintillator hodoscope has been developed. We have characterized the two-dimensional positions sensitivity of the thin BGO disk and energy deposition into the BGO was calibrated using cosmic rays by comparing experimental data with Monte-Carlo simulations. The particle tracks were defined by connecting BGO hit positions and hits on the surrounding hodoscope scintillator bars. The event rate was investigated as a function of the angles between the tracks and the energy deposition in the BGO for simulated antiproton events, and for measured and simulated cosmic ray events. Identification of the antihydrogen Monte Carlo events was performed using the energy deposited in the BGO and the particle tracks. The cosmic ray background was limited to 12 mHz with a detection efficiency of 81 %. The signal-to-noise ratio was improved from 0.22 s^{-1/2} obtained with the detector in 2012 to 0.26 s^{-1/2} in this work.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2017

The ASACUSA antihydrogen and hydrogen program : results and prospects

The goal of the ASACUSA-CUSP collaboration at the Antiproton Decelerator of CERN is to measure the ground-state hyperfine splitting of antihydrogen using an atomic spectroscopy beamline. A milestone was achieved in 2012 through the detection of 80 antihydrogen atoms 2.7 meters away from their production region. This was the first observation of "cold" antihydrogen atoms in a magnetic field free region. In parallel to the progress on the antihydrogen production, the spectroscopy beamline was tested with a source of hydrogen. This led to a measurement at a relative precision of 2.7x 10^(-9) which constitues the most precise measurement of the hydrogen hyperfine splitting in a beam. Further measurements with an upgraded hydrogen apparatus are motivated by CPT and Lorentz violation tests in the framework of the Standard Model Extension. Unlike for hydrogen, the antihydrogen experiment is complicated by the difficulty of synthesizing enough cold antiatoms in ground-state. The first antihydrogen quantum states scan at the entrance of the spectroscopy apparatus was realized in 2016 and is presented here. The prospects for a ppm measurement are also discussed.

physics.atom-ph↗
arXiv2016

Towards Measuring the Ground State Hyperfine Splitting of Antihydrogen -- A Progress Report

We report the successful commissioning and testing of a dedicated field-ioniser chamber for measuring principal quantum number distributions in antihydrogen as part of the ASACUSA hyperfine spectroscopy apparatus. The new chamber is combined with a beam normalisation detector that consists of plastic scintillators and a retractable passivated implanted planar silicon (PIPS) detector.

physics.ins-det↗
arXiv2014

Enhancement of annihilation cross sections by electric interactions between the antineutron and the field of a large nucleus

Data relative to antineutron and antiproton annihilation on large nuclei in the range 75-200 MeV/c present two unexpected features: (a) antineutron and antiproton cross sections have a similar size, (ii) the rise of the antineutron cross section at decreasing energy is much steeper than predictable for an inelastic process of purely strong nature at that energy. The observed behavior of antineutron-nucleus annihilations is similar to what would be expected for antiproton-nucleus annihilations, where Coulomb attraction focusses antiproton trajectories towards the nucleus, enhancing the inelastic cross section by a factor O(1/p) with respect to antineutrons on the same target. This results in a 1/p^2 behavior at small energies. The presence of a similar enhancement in the antineutron case may only be justified by an interaction with a longer range than strong interactions. Excluding a Coulomb force because of the antineutron neutrality, and taking into account that an intrinsic electric dipole is forbidden for the antineutron, the next choice is an electric dipole that is induced by the nuclear electric field. Recent theoretical works have shown that a non-negligible electric polarization may be induced in a neutron by QED vacuum polarization. Assuming this as a possibility, we have used a simple model to calculate the polarization strengths that are needed to fit the available data in terms of this effect. These are within the magnitude predicted by the vacuum polarization model. We have also discussed alternative scenarios that could induce an electric polarization of the antineutron as a consequence of the interplay between strong and e.m. interactions.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2008

Experimental evidence of antiproton reflection by a solid surface

We report here experimental evidence of the reflection of a large fraction of a beam of low energy antiprotons by an aluminum wall. This derives from the analysis of a set of annihilations of antiprotons that come to rest in rarefied helium gas after hitting the end wall of the apparatus. A Monte Carlo simulation of the antiproton path in aluminum indicates that the observed reflection occurs primarily via a multiple Rutherford-style scattering on Al nuclei, at least in the energy range 1-10 keV where the phenomenon is most visible in the analyzed data. These results contradict the common belief according to which the interactions between matter and antimatter are dominated by the reciprocally destructive phenomenon of annihilation.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2008

Production of Slow Protonium in Vacuum

We describe how protonium, the quasi-stable antiproton-proton bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the molecular ion H$_2^+$ in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events in the ATHENA experiment, evidence is presented for protonium production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around $n$ = 70, with low angular momenta. This work provides a new 2-body system for study using laser spectroscopic techniques.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2007

Evidence For The Production Of Slow Antiprotonic Hydrogen In Vacuum

We present evidence showing how antiprotonic hydrogen, the quasistable antiproton-proton (pbar-p) bound system, has been synthesized following the interaction of antiprotons with the hydrogen molecular ion (H2+) in a nested Penning trap environment. From a careful analysis of the spatial distributions of antiproton annihilation events, evidence is presented for antiprotonic hydrogen production with sub-eV kinetic energies in states around n=70, and with low angular momenta. The slow antiprotonic hydrogen may be studied using laser spectroscopic techniques.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2006

On the muon neutrino mass

During the runs of the PS 179 experiment at LEAR of CERN, we photographed an event of antiproton-Ne absorption, with a complete pi+ -> mu+ ->e+ chain. From the vertex of the reaction a very slow energy pi+ was emitted. The pi+ decays into a mu+ and subsequently the mu+ decays into a positron. At the first decay vertex a muon neutrino was emitted and at the second decay vertex an electron neutrino and a muon antineutrino. Measuring the pion and muon tracks and applying the momentum and energy conservation and using a classical statistical interval estimator, we obtained an experimental upper limit for the muon neutrino mass: m_nu < 2.2 MeV at a 90% confidence level. A statistical analysis has been performed of the factors contributing to the square value of the neutrino mass limit.

nucl-ex↗
arXiv2005

ATHENA -- First Production of Cold Antihydrogen and Beyond

Atomic systems of antiparticles are the laboratories of choice for tests of CPT symmetry with antimatter. The ATHENA experiment was the first to report the production of copious amounts of cold antihydrogen in 2002. This article reviews some of the insights that have since been gained concerning the antihydrogen production process as well as the external and internal properties of the produced anti-atoms. Furthermore, the implications of those results on future prospects of symmetry tests with antimatter are discussed.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2005

Cold-Antimatter Physics

The CPT theorem and the Weak Equivalence Principle are foundational principles on which the standard description of the fundamental interactions is based. The validity of such basic principles should be tested using the largest possible sample of physical systems. Cold neutral antimatter (low-energy antihydrogen atoms) could be a tool for testing the CPT symmetry with high precision and for a direct measurement of the gravitational acceleration of antimatter. After several years of experimental efforts, the production of low-energy antihydrogen through the recombination of antiprotons and positrons is a well-established experimental reality. An overview of the ATHENA experiment at CERN will be given and the main experimental results on antihydrogen formation will be reviewed.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2004

Production of Cold Antihydrogen with ATHENA for Fundamental Studies

Since the beginning of operations of the CERN Antiproton Decelerator in July 2000, the successful deceleration, storage and manipulation of antiprotons has led to remarkable progress in the production of antimatter. The ATHENA Collaboration were the first to create and detect cold antihydrogen in 2002, and we can today produce large enough amounts of antiatoms to study their properties as well as the parameters that govern their production rate.

hep-ex↗
arXiv2000

On the different role of protons and neutrons in antinucleon annihilations on nuclei

We compare data of antineutron and antiproton annihilation cross sections on different targets at very low energies. After subtracting Coulomb effects, we observe that the ratio between the antineutron proton and antiproton proton annihilation cross sections is an oscillating function of the energy at momenta smaller 300 MeV/c. This nontrivial behavior is confirmed by the analysis of the relative number of antiproton-neutron and antiproton-proton annihilations in nuclei. We show that a part of the strong shadowing phenomena in antiproton-nucleus annihilations can be explained in terms of this oscillation, while a part requires different explainations.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2000

Limits on the low energy antinucleon-nucleus annihilations from the Heisenberg principle

We show that the quantum uncertainty principle puts some limits on the effectiveness of the antinucleon-nucleus annihilation at very low energies. This is caused by the fact that the realization a very effective short-distance reaction process implies information on the relative distance of the reacting particles. Some quantitative predictions are possible on this ground, including the approximate A-independence of antinucleon-nucleus annihilation rates.

nucl-th↗
arXiv2000

A phenomenological analysis of antiproton interactions at low energies

We present an optical potential analysis of the antiproton-proton interactions at low energies. Our optical potential is purely phenomenological, and has been parametrized on data recently obtained by the Obelix Collaboration at momenta below 180 MeV/c. It reasonably fits annihilation and elastic data below 600 MeV/c, and allows us for an evaluation of the elastic cross section and rho-parameter down to zero kinetic energy. Moreover we show that the mechanism that depresses antiproton-nucleus annihilation cross sections at low energies is present in antiproton-proton interactions too.

nucl-th↗
arXiv1999

Coulomb corrections to low energy antiproton annihilation cross sections on protons and nuclei

We calculate, in a systematic way, the enhancement effect on antiproton-proton and antiproton-nucleus annihilation cross sections at low energy due to the initial state electrostatic interaction between the projectile and the target nucleus. This calculation is aimed at future comparisons between antineutron and antiproton annihilation rates on different targets, for the extraction of pure isospin channels.

nucl-th↗
arXiv1999

Annihilation of antiprotons on nuclear targets at low energies: a simple analysis

We set up a plane wave impulse approximation (PWIA) formalism for the analysis of the annihilation cross sections of antinucleons on nuclear targets at very low momenta (below 100 MeV/c), where semiclassical approximations can't be applied. Since, as we test here, PWIA fails in reproducing the unexpected ``inversion'' behavior of the $\bar{p}p$ and $\bar{p}-$nucleus annihilation cross sections found in a recent experiment\cite{obe1,obe2} we discuss some further possibilities, with a special attention to the optical potential model.

nucl-th↗