ANTIHYDROGEN SYNTHESIS BY COLLISIONS BETWEEN ANTIPROTONS AND POSITRONIUM ATOMS

We overview the progress made recently in pursuit of antihydrogen form ation by the interaction of cold antiprotons, held in a Penning frap, with injected positronium atoms. We describe the relevant details of t he antiproton catching scheme, based upon the PS200 trap, and our goal s before antihydrogen can be observed. A method of accumulating low-en ergy positrons to provide the required large bursts of positronium ato ms is described. The antihydrogen-formation rate for the simplest reac tion is estimated, and its implications for the production and detecti on scenario are examined. An experiment to observe the charge-conjugat e reaction, namely hydrogen formation in proton-positronium collisions , is summarized.