Formation of antihydrogen atoms in an ultra-cold positron-antiproton plasma
arXiv:physics/9611005 · doi:10.1016/S0375-9601(96)00944-9
Abstract
We discuss the formation of antihydrogen atoms () in an ultra-cold positron-antiproton plasma. For positron densities $n_p\agt 10^8$ cm the characteristic formation time of stable is determined by collisional relaxation of highly excited atoms produced in the process of 3-body Thompson recombination. Relying on the mechanisms of ``replacement collisions'' and ``transverse collisional drift'' we find a bottleneck in the relaxation kinetics and analyze the physical consequences of this phenomenon.
arXiv commentA talk given on ITAMP Workshop on Exotic Atoms, July 11-13, 1996; submitted to Physics Letters A; 3 pages, RevTeX