Today, collisions between hydrogen species play vital roles in advanced technologies like fusion reactors and lithography machines. ''Historically, they were crucial for cooling the universe shortly after the Big Bang, by allowing the formation of the first hydrogen molecules'', Beyer explains. ''Now, physicists aim to replicate these processes with their antimatter analogues to create the first antimatter molecules. By identifying the most efficient ways for creating the simplest antimatter molecules, this research lays essential groundwork for new tests of the Standard Model of Particle Physics and mysteries like dark matter. Besides the implications for the chemistry in the early universe, the research also has practical applications, for example, in nuclear fusion research and in industrial processes, such as those at ASML. ''
SAMURAI investigates fundamental processes in molecular hydrogen
The SAMURAI project aims to study collisions between hydrogen atoms with unprecedented precision. The scientists focus primarily on small quantum effects that increase the probability of collisions, based, for example, on quantum-mechanical tunneling, and on three specific reactions suggested to produce molecular antimatter. "Instead of traditional collision experiments, SAMURAI uses a novel 'half-collision' approach. Think about two billiard balls: the angle and speed with which they fly apart depend on the details of how they hit each other. The whole collision process can be divided into before and after the moment when the two balls touch each other. Instead of aiming the atoms at each other, we skip the first part of the collision, and we will use the hydrogen molecule and lasers to prepare this so-called transition state - the moment when the two atoms touch each other. Starting from that, we can watch the second half of the collisions in very much detail. This allows for the isolation of reaction pathways and better control of the collision conditions," explains Beyer.
International Year of Quantum Science and Technology
The hydrogen molecule and its ion, when one of the two electrons is removed, are the simplest molecules and have played a pivotal role in the development of quantum mechanics for more than 100 years. The year 2025 is designated as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology to celebrate its 100th anniversary (it was in 1925 that Werner Heisenberg published his work on matrix mechanics). Heisenberg was also the PhD supervisor of Edward Teller, who later became known as the father of the hydrogen bomb. In his thesis, submitted in 1930, Teller carried out the first calculation of the electronically excited states of the hydrogen molecular ion. "As part of the SAMURAI project, we hope to finally achieve the first spectroscopic observation of these states," Beyer concludes.
The project also aims to measure radiative association for the first time, a process that creates molecular hydrogen ions from protons and hydrogen atoms with the help of light. The experiment will involve ion traps, magnetic fields, and laser cooling. Together, this will allow the preparation of cold protons and hydrogen atoms, and to control the outcome of collisions—something that has previously only been possible with other atoms.
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