Jakub Zielinski
supervisor: Adam Kisiel, Georgy Kornakov
Access to a variety of highly charged ions is crucial for fundamental research and technological applications. However, not all isotopes can be accessed with the existing production paths. Therefore, in order to provide an alternative production mechanism for either challenging to obtain radioisotopes or short-lived Highly Charged Isotopes (HCI), new approaches are needed.
We suggest that many species of HCI can be accessed using antiprotonic atoms. They are atoms in which one electron is replaced by an antiproton (`overlinep`). The lifetime of these atoms depends on the relaxation of the antiproton and ultimately annihilation with the nucleus matter of the atom. The annihilation happens on the surface and with little recoil momentum of the nucleus. Pions (or more rarely, kaons) produced in the annihilation can then interact with nucleus matter creating new isotopes already in the HCI state.
We have studied in detailed simulations done using GEANT4 code the annihilation of very low energy `overlinep` on atoms at rest. According to this simulation, it is possible to create isotopes Z+ with energies which enable their capture for further studies and manipulations, which could not be achieved with previous methods.
Studying cold antimatter is only possible at CERN. The AEgIS (Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) experiment is finalising its recent upgrade. It aims to obtain antihydrogen later this year. Its unique scheme of pulsed antihydrogen production makes it the best candidate for experimental testing of our hypothesis.