Scientists working with the AEgIS collaboration, led by Professor Christoph Hugenschmidt at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), have created a new detector capable of real-time imaging of antimatter annihilation points. For those wondering, when matter and antimatter collide, they "annihilate" one another, converting their mass into a burst of pure energy, releasing high-energy photons or particles.
This device, described in a study published in Science Advances, can pinpoint where antiprotons annihilate matter with remarkable accuracy, down to 0.6 micrometers (sub-micrometer resolution). This makes it 35 times more precise than earlier real-time imaging methods.
The AEgIS experiment is part of the research happening at CERN’s Antimatter Factory, where teams are trying to measure how antihydrogen behaves under Earth’s gravity and the gravitational acceleration. The "Antihydrogen Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy" or AEgIS is a collaborative endeavor that brings physicists from across Europe and India together. In its current phase, the experiment harnesses antiprotons from the Antiproton Decelerator to generate a pulsed beam of antihydrogen atoms.
AEgIS does this by producing a horizontal antihydrogen beam and checking its vertical movements with special tools like the "moiré deflectometer". The newly developed detector records these annihilation points to understand small changes in the beam’s path caused by gravity.
Francesco Guatieri, the lead scientist behind the study, explained why the high resolution is essential. “For the AEgIS experiment to work, we need a detector with extremely precise imaging ability. The camera sensors we used have pixels smaller than one micrometer. By combining 60 of these sensors, we’ve created a detector with an impressive resolution of 3840 megapixels - the highest pixel count of any imaging detector to date.”
Before this, researchers had to rely on photographic plates, which couldn’t provide real-time information. The new detector solves this problem while offering similar or better image quality.
To create the detector, the team used commercial smartphone camera sensors, which had already shown they could capture low-energy positrons in real-time. However, they had to make major adjustments to the sensors by stripping away certain layers that were designed for mobile phone electronics. This step required advanced engineering and careful design.
Interestingly, human input played a big role in this breakthrough. The team relied on manual analysis by colleagues to accurately map the antiproton annihilation points in over 2,500 images. While time-consuming—up to 10 hours per set—this process outperformed automated methods in precision.
The detector’s incredible accuracy is also said to help scientists study different particles produced during annihilation. By measuring the tracks left behind, they can tell whether they were caused by protons or pions. This new capability has opened up new possibilities for studying low-energy antimatter interactions.
AEgIS spokesperson Ruggero Caravita highlighted the significance of this development. “The extraordinary resolution also enables us to distinguish between different annihilation fragments. “The new detector paves the way for new research on low-energy antiparticle annihilation, and is a game-changing technology for the observation of the tiny shifts in antihydrogen caused by gravity”
Although more research is needed to explore its full potential, the detector is already being hailed as a game-changer in experimental physics.
Source: CERN, Science Advances
This article was generated with some help from AI and reviewed by an editor.
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