Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency

D. A. Cooke; P. Crivelli; J. Alnis; A. Antognini; B. Brown; S. Friedreich; A. Gabard; T. W. Haensch; K. Kirch; A. Rubbia; V. Vrankovic

doi:10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4

Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency

D. A. Cooke
, P. Crivelli^*
, J. Alnis
, A. Antognini
, B. Brown
, S. Friedreich
, A. Gabard
, T. W. Haensch
, K. Kirch
, A. Rubbia
, V. Vrankovic

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute of Atomic Physics and Spectroscopy

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
Marquette University
Paul Scherrer Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

33 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We report the first observation of the annihilation of positronium from the 2S state. Positronium (Ps) is excited with a two-photon transition from the 1S to the 2S state where its lifetime is increased by a factor of eight compared to the ground state due to the decrease in the overlap of the positron electron wave-function. The yield of delayed annihilation photons detected as a function of laser frequency is used as a new method of detecting laser-excited Ps in the 2S state. This can be considered the first step towards a new high precision measurement of the 1S–2S Ps line.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	67-73
Number of pages	7
Journal	Hyperfine Interactions
Volume	233
Issue number	1-3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4
Publication status	Published - 7 Aug 2015

Keywords

Bound state QED
Positronium
Spectroscopy

OECD Field of Science

1.3 Physical Sciences

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Cooke, D. A., Crivelli, P., Alnis, J., Antognini, A., Brown, B., Friedreich, S., Gabard, A., Haensch, T. W., Kirch, K., Rubbia, A., & Vrankovic, V. (2015). Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency. Hyperfine Interactions, 233(1-3), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4

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title = "Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency",

abstract = "We report the first observation of the annihilation of positronium from the 2S state. Positronium (Ps) is excited with a two-photon transition from the 1S to the 2S state where its lifetime is increased by a factor of eight compared to the ground state due to the decrease in the overlap of the positron electron wave-function. The yield of delayed annihilation photons detected as a function of laser frequency is used as a new method of detecting laser-excited Ps in the 2S state. This can be considered the first step towards a new high precision measurement of the 1S–2S Ps line.",

keywords = "Bound state QED, Positronium, Spectroscopy",

author = "Cooke, \{D. A.\} and P. Crivelli and J. Alnis and A. Antognini and B. Brown and S. Friedreich and A. Gabard and Haensch, \{T. W.\} and K. Kirch and A. Rubbia and V. Vrankovic",

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month = aug,

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doi = "10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4",

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Cooke, DA, Crivelli, P, Alnis, J, Antognini, A, Brown, B, Friedreich, S, Gabard, A, Haensch, TW, Kirch, K, Rubbia, A & Vrankovic, V 2015, 'Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency', Hyperfine Interactions, vol. 233, no. 1-3, pp. 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4

TY - JOUR

T1 - Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state

T2 - towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency

AU - Cooke, D. A.

AU - Crivelli, P.

AU - Alnis, J.

AU - Antognini, A.

AU - Brown, B.

AU - Friedreich, S.

AU - Gabard, A.

AU - Haensch, T. W.

AU - Kirch, K.

AU - Rubbia, A.

AU - Vrankovic, V.

PY - 2015/8/7

Y1 - 2015/8/7

N2 - We report the first observation of the annihilation of positronium from the 2S state. Positronium (Ps) is excited with a two-photon transition from the 1S to the 2S state where its lifetime is increased by a factor of eight compared to the ground state due to the decrease in the overlap of the positron electron wave-function. The yield of delayed annihilation photons detected as a function of laser frequency is used as a new method of detecting laser-excited Ps in the 2S state. This can be considered the first step towards a new high precision measurement of the 1S–2S Ps line.

AB - We report the first observation of the annihilation of positronium from the 2S state. Positronium (Ps) is excited with a two-photon transition from the 1S to the 2S state where its lifetime is increased by a factor of eight compared to the ground state due to the decrease in the overlap of the positron electron wave-function. The yield of delayed annihilation photons detected as a function of laser frequency is used as a new method of detecting laser-excited Ps in the 2S state. This can be considered the first step towards a new high precision measurement of the 1S–2S Ps line.

KW - Bound state QED

KW - Positronium

KW - Spectroscopy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/84941023542

U2 - 10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4

DO - 10.1007/s10751-015-1158-4

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84941023542

SN - 0304-3843

VL - 233

SP - 67

EP - 73

JO - Hyperfine Interactions

JF - Hyperfine Interactions

IS - 1-3

ER -

Observation of positronium annihilation in the 2S state: towards a new measurement of the 1S-2S transition frequency

Abstract

Keywords

OECD Field of Science

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