Heating due to momentum transfer in low-energy positronium-antiproton scattering

Abstract

We investigate the consequences of unexpectedly large elastic cross sections for the scattering of low-energy antiprotons from n≤3 positronium (Ps) on the experimental implementation of antihydrogen formation via Ps-antiproton collisions. The integrated elastic cross sections, obtained using the two-center convergent close-coupling theory, can be up to three orders of magnitude greater than their counterparts for antihydrogen formation. The differential momentum transfer cross sections, which suppress the large cross sections at forward scattering angles, show remarkably rich behavior across all scattering angles. We discuss the implications of these findings for the heating, via momentum transfer, of clouds of trapped antiprotons that are typically used for the creation of antihydrogen.