Test of weak equivalence principle with antimatter

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Markus Kurt Oberthaler
• Subject Area: Nuclear and Elementary Particle Physics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Fields ; Optics, Quantum Optics and Physics of Atoms, Molecules and Plasmas
• Term: from 2013 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 234920277

The central goal of the project is the experimental realization of a setup which allows the direct and quantitative measurement of the gravitational acceleration of antimatter - a Moiré-deflectometer for antimatter. The setup is part of the general setup within the collaboration AEgIS (Antimatter Experiment: Gravity, Interferometry, Spectroscopy) at CERN where an anti-hydrogen beam will be realized. The defined goal is the measurement of gravitation acceleration of anti-hydrogen till end of 2015 with a precision of 5-10%. This will be the first direct test of the weak equivalence principle without additional assumptions. With the further development and improvement of the Moiré-deflectometer, a simple and robust apparatus will become available which has a projected sensitivity to gravitational acceleration allowing for an application in geology.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Major Instrumentation: Positioniereinheit/Goniometer
• Instrumentation Group: 2850 Getriebe und spezielle Maschinenteile