We present advances in plasma control and diagnosis, leading to the production of exceptionally large quantities of neutral antimatter. We measure the time-dependent temperature and density distribution of antiprotons and positrons while slowly combining them to make antihydrogen atoms in a nested Penning–Malmberg trap. The total antihydrogen yield and the number of atoms escaping the trap as a beam are greatest when the positron temperature is lowest and when antiprotons enter the positron plasma at the smallest radius. We control these parameters by changing the rate at which we lower the electrostatic barrier between the antiproton and positron plasmas and by heating the positrons. With the optimal settings, we produce 2.3×106 antihydrogen atoms per 15-min run, surpassing the previous state of the art (3.1×104 atoms in 4 min) and the most recent advances in other experiments by factors of 20 and 5, respectively.

The Aharonov–Bohm (AB) effect is one of the most striking features of quantum physics, and it is of critical importance to elucidate the role of the electromagnetic potential and its physical meaning. In spite of the fact that it was first proposed in 1949, up to now it has only been demonstrated for electrons and neutrons. We propose the realization of an experiment to study the AB effect for the antiproton, which will have the double feature of being a non-elementary charged particle and at the same time an antiparticle. The experiment will be conducted in collaboration with the ASACUSA (Atomic Spectroscopy And Collisions Using Slow Antiprotons) group at the CERN AD (Antiproton Decelerator), making use of a slow antiproton beam.