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Antimatter gravity measurement: How does antihydrogen fall?

Objective

Antimatter research has become a crucial sphere in the continuous attempt to understand the Universe and its laws. The only stable, neutral antimatter atom available for laboratory study is the antihydrogen. We here propose to carry out a 30% measurement of the gravitational acceleration for antihydrogen, which will reveal the sign of gravity acting on antimatter, within the next two years. The principle is based on the rotation of a three grating moiré deflectometer, coupled to a detector, and requires neither position resolution nor time-of-flight information for the through-going antihydrogen atoms. The realization of the measurement requires high quality simulations and the state-of-the art moiré deflectometer, with gratings that are able to detect the annihilating antihydrogen atoms. The project goal will be reached through a series of software and hardware developments that are part of the implementation of the three work packages defined in the proposal. The main deliverables are new, faster simulations for antihydrogen annihilation and novel technologies for instrumentation for inertial sensing and detection of antimatter. In a more general context, this project proposal addresses the very fundamental question: do matter and antimatter fall in the same way? The Weak Equivalence Principle says that they must, but our understanding of antimatter is far from complete, with the baryon asymmetry in the Universe being one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. A successful outcome of the proposed work will accelerate the researcher's growth towards her career goal: becoming a mature experimental physicist. At the same time, the host institution will greatly expand its influence in antimatter research and will benefit from new collaborators.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016

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Coordinator

OESTERREICHISCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 166 156,80
Address
DR. IGNAZ SEIPEL-PLATZ 2
1010 Wien
Austria

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Region
Ostösterreich Wien Wien
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 166 156,80
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