The primary goal of AEgIS is to perform a gravity test with a cold antihydrogen (Hbar) beam. AEgIS proposes to create such a cold beam based on a charge exchange reaction between cold trapped antiprotons (pbar) and excited (Rydberg) Positronium (Ps):
Ps* + pbar → e– + Hbar*
The Ps atom is the bound state of an electron and its antiparticle the positron: Ps = (e– + e+).
Last years, great efforts have been made for gathering all the ingredients needed for the charge-exchange reaction:
I will present the recent progress we made on the two above-mentioned points.
To open the discussion, I will introduce one of the projects we are developing, which aims to improve the antihydrogen formation in AEgIS: sympathetic cooling of antiprotons using laser-cooled molecular anions (C2–).