The Imperial College Particle Physics Group has a postgraduate studentship available to work on laser measurements of cold exotic atoms that contain antiprotons at the new Extra Low Energy Antiproton ring (ELENA) accelerator facility of CERN in Geneva.  This allows us to probe the matter-antimatter symmetry of nature, determine the mass ratio between an antiproton and electron, and set upper limits on possible fifth forces or hypothetical interactions of these particles with undiscovered fields.

These small tabletop-type experiments lie at the boundary between atomic, molecular, and particle physics while utilizing the latest technological advances in quantum optics and accelerator technologies.

The student will play a central role in these experiments including the daily operation, data taking, and development of various laser, small accelerator, particle detector, and data acquisition systems in London and CERN. We hope to be relatively flexible with regards to the exact PhD topic depending on the candidate’s interests.

The studentship covers a maintenance bursary similar to standard STFC studentships.

Contacts: 
Dr M. Hori (m.hori@imperial.ac.uk)