Quantum Reflection of Antihydrogen in the GBAR Experiment
Quantum Physics
2015-02-10 v1 Atomic Physics
Abstract
In the GBAR experiment, cold antihydrogen atoms will be left to fall on an annihilation plate with the aim of measuring the gravitational acceleration of antimatter. Here, we study the quantum reflection of these antiatoms due to the Casimir-Polder potential above the plate. We give realistic estimates of the potential and quantum reflection amplitudes, taking into account the specificities of antihydrogen and the optical properties of the plate. We find that quantum reflection is enhanced for weaker potentials, for example above thin slabs, graphene and nanoporous media.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1312.6018,
title = {Quantum Reflection of Antihydrogen in the GBAR Experiment},
author = {Gabriel Dufour and Romain Guérout and Astrid Lambrecht and Valery Nesvizhevsky and Serge Reynaud and Alexei Voronin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1312.6018},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
Workshop on Antimatter and Gravity Bern 2013 Proceedings