CERN

--

ANTI-MATTER CAPTURED

17 November 2010:

Scientists trap 'anti-atom' and claim breakthrough in antimatter hunt.

Scientists managed to create an atom of anti-hydrogen and then hold onto it for long enough to demonstrate that it can be studied in the lab. Since 2002, they have also managed to lump these particles together to form anti-atoms, but until recently none could be trapped for long enough to study them, because atoms made of antimatter and matter annihilate each on contact.

American scientist Jeffrey Hangst's ALPHA team got there first, beating the rival ATRAP team led by Harvard physicist Gerald Gabrielse, a veteran of the 20-year hunt for antimatter. Gabrielse nevertheless welcomed the result. "The atoms that were trapped were not yet trapped very long and in a very usable number, but one has to crawl before you sprint."

Photograph released by the european lab CERN on Thursday, Nov 18, 2010:

It shows an image taken by the ALPHA annihilation detector showing untrapped antihydrogen atoms annihilating on the inner surface of the ALPHA trap. The events are concentrated at the electrode radius of about 22.3 mm. Scientists at the world's biggest physics lab said they have achieved a breakthrough in the hunt for antimatter. An international team of physicist at the European Organization for Nuclear Research near Geneva say they created an entire atom made of antimatter and then for the first time managed to hold onto it.