Antimatter atoms captured for the first time
February 21, 2002 | Source: New Scientist
Antimatter atoms have been captured for the first time by researchers at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics.
The research team used powerful magnetic fields to trap antiprotons in CERN’s particle accelerator and then introduced a beam of antielectrons, or positrons, and used an electric field to slow them down and bring the two types of particles together.
When they exposed the particle trap to an electric field, some particles failed to move, suggesting that the charged antiparticles had bound together into neutral antihydrogen atoms.
The research was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s 2002 annual meeting in Boston.