Antimatter Free-Fall Experiments and Charge Asymmetry

Antimatter Free-Fall Experiments and Charge Asymmetry

We propose a method by which one could use modified antimatter gravity experiments in order to perform a high-precision test of antimatter charge neutrality. The proposal is based on the application of a strong, external, vertically oriented electric field during an antimatter free-fall gravity expe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Symmetry (Basel) Vol. 13; no. 7; p. 1192
Main Author: Jentschura, Ulrich David
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-07-2021
Subjects:
Antimatter
Asymmetry
Atoms & subatomic particles
Electric fields
Experiments
Field theory
gauge bosons
gauge field theories
Gravitational fields
Gravity
Hydrogen
Invariants
Matter & antimatter
Neutrality
Operators
Parameters
Positrons
Quantum field theory
Symmetry
symmetry and conservation laws
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Summary:We propose a method by which one could use modified antimatter gravity experiments in order to perform a high-precision test of antimatter charge neutrality. The proposal is based on the application of a strong, external, vertically oriented electric field during an antimatter free-fall gravity experiment in the gravitational field of the Earth. The proposed experimental setup has the potential to drastically improve the limits on the charge-asymmetry parameter ϵ¯q of antimatter. On the theoretical side, we analyze possibilities to describe a putative charge-asymmetry of matter and antimatter, proportional to the parameters ϵq and ϵ¯q, by Lagrangian methods. We found that such an asymmetry could be described by four-dimensional Lorentz-invariant operators that break CPT without destroying the locality of the field theory. The mechanism involves an interaction Lagrangian with field operators decomposed into particle or antiparticle field contributions. Our Lagrangian is otherwise Lorentz, as well as PT invariant. Constraints to be derived on the parameter ϵ¯q do not depend on the assumed theoretical model.
ISSN:2073-8994
2073-8994
DOI:10.3390/sym13071192