Formation of a Dense Gas of Positronium

University Of California-Riverside, Riverside CA

Investigators

Abstract

This effort is the beginning of a multi-step project that has the long-term goal of demonstrating the existence of an annihilation photon laser based on annihilation radiation from positronium in a dense gas. The specific goals of the first three years are: 1) Compress a cold, spin-aligned, non-neutral plasma of positrons trapped in a magnetic field to near the Brillouin limit. Extract the positrons and focus them to a microscopic spot on a sample in a short time pulse; 2) Demonstrate the existence of a high positron surface density by forming and observing the di-positronium molecule, Ps2. The density dependence of the Ps2 yield may be interpreted to give the binding energy of Ps2 relative to two free Ps atoms and the accommodation or sticking coefficient SPs2 for Ps2 absorption at the surface; and 3) Form a gas of high-density triplet Ps within a cavity. The research efforts will be accompanied by an educational effort in which undergraduate students will be involved in part time work creating demonstration experiments suitable for encouraging high school students to work in scientific fields and creating a high school level interactive internet web site on "Antimatter" to eventually permit remote real time participation in demonstration experiments.