High-precision Penning Trap

• Subject Area: Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 542672974

As part of the new appointment of the chair "Quantum Technology with Focus on Fundamental Physics (QTF)" at Heinrich-Heine-University (HHU) Düsseldorf, an ultra-high-precision Penning trap spectrometer will be built, which will set new standards for Penning trap-based experiments. The experiment will contribute to the search for physics beyond the Standard Model (SM) by high-resolution measurements of fundamental constants. Such measurements are motivated by the fact that the SM, although extremely successful, is known to be incomplete. For example, the existence of dark matter is not included in the SM, and the imbalance between matter and antimatter has yet to be discovered. Penning traps play a prominent role in the study of matter/antimatter symmetry to test charge/parity/time reversal (CPT) invariance, and have produced numerous record measurements in that sector. As founder and leader of the BASE collaboration at CERN, the applicant has improved the precision in determining the magnetic moment of the antiproton by a factor of 3000. In addition, by comparing the charge-to-mass ratios of protons and antiprotons the most precise test of CPT invariance with baryons was performed, with a fractional accuracy of 16 parts in a trillion (p.p.t.). Within this application, a "high-precision Penning trap experiment" is described, with which, based on the experiences gained, a new apparatus will be developed that will determine numerous fundamental constants with highest precision. The measurement program planned includes: 1.) The 1000-fold improved comparison of the magnetic moments of protons and antiprotons. 2.) The improved measurement of the mass of the proton. 3.) The development of Penning trap-based measurement methods for spectroscopy of the H2+ molecule, with prospective application to anti-H2+. 4.) The improved measurement of the mass of the electron. 5.) The measurements of the magnetic moments of electrons and positrons to test CPT symmetry and quantum electrodynamics (QED). 6.) The high-precision measurement of the masses of alkali atoms for atom interferometer-based determinations of the fine structure constants. A particularly outstanding project is the vision of producing antiprotons at CERN, transporting them, and investigating them in the new experiment. The relocalization of the antiparticles to a highly stabilized precision laboratory will enable 100 to 1000-fold improved measurements compared to the precisions currently achieved, as magnetic noise, which limits current experiments at CERN, will be completely eliminated. The transportable antiproton trap BASE-STEP, which is currently under construction and funded by an ERC Starting Grant, will be used for transport.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochpräzisions-Penningfalle
• Instrumentation Group: 0120 Supraleitende Labormagnete
• Applicant Institution: Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
• Leader: Professor Dr. Stefan Ulmer