Quantum reflection of antihydrogen from the Casimir potential above matter slabs

G. Dufour, A. Gérardin, R. Guérout, A. Lambrecht, V. V. Nesvizhevsky, S. Reynaud, and A. Yu. Voronin
Phys. Rev. A 87, 012901 – Published 2 January 2013

Abstract

We study quantum reflection of antihydrogen atoms from matter slabs due to the van der Waals–Casimir-Polder potential. By taking into account the specificities of antihydrogen and the optical properties and width of the slabs, we calculate realistic estimates for the potential and quantum reflection amplitudes. Next we discuss the paradoxical result of larger reflection coefficients estimated for weaker potentials in terms of the Schwarzian derivative. We analyze the limiting case of reflections at small energies, which are characterized by a scattering length and have interesting applications for trapping and guiding antihydrogen using material walls.

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  • Received 26 September 2012

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.87.012901

©2013 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

G. Dufour1, A. Gérardin1, R. Guérout1, A. Lambrecht1, V. V. Nesvizhevsky2, S. Reynaud1, and A. Yu. Voronin3

  • 1Laboratoire Kastler-Brossel, CNRS, ENS, UPMC, Campus Jussieu, F-75252 Paris, France
  • 2Institut Laue-Langevin (ILL), 6 Rue Jules Horowitz, F-38042, Grenoble, France
  • 3P. N. Lebedev Physical Institute, 53 Leninsky Prospect, Ru-117924 Moscow, Russia

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Vol. 87, Iss. 1 — January 2013

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