Matthew Turner Rose Hills
ALPHA-II Apparatus Update and Charge Neutrality of Antihydrogen
Throughout the summer I will be working as part of the ALPHA collaboration in updating the current experimental apparatus and hopefully I will be able to assist in running tests by the end of summer. According to the collaboration website, “ALPHA is an international collaboration based at CERN, and whose aim is stable trapping of antihydrogen atoms, the antimatter counterpart of the simplest atom, hydrogen. By precise comparisons of hydrogen and antihydrogen, the experiment hopes to study fundamental symmetries between matter and antimatter.” My main tasks are designing and testing circuitry that will be used to control and protect the magnets of the trapping device. I am also designing equipment that will be used to mount these circuits inside the trap in cryogenic temperatures. If the summer plans run on schedule, then I will also be able to help operate the equipment in the tests on trapped antihydrogen and help in the analysis of the data.
Message To Sponsor
This SURF/Rose Hills fellowship has provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime and I am immensely grateful for the opportunities it has allowed me. This fellowship has allowed me to pursue my interest in physics in one of the greatest physics labs, CERN. Through the funding opportunity, I have been able to pay for the large costs of living abroad and I have not had to worry about trying to fund my way abroad or worry about how this might affect my ability to pay for tuition next year. I am immensely grateful for the opportunities I have been given and this will definitely shape my future pursuits.