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A group of researchers has demonstrated a new, efficient way to accelerate positrons, the antimatter opposites of electrons. The method may help boost the energy and shrink the size of future linear particle colliders--powerful accelerators that could be used to unravel the properties of nature’s fundamental building blocks.
The scientists had previously shown that boosting the energy of charged particles by having them “surf” a wave of ionized gas, or plasma, works well for electrons. While this method by itself could lead to smaller accelerators, electrons are only half the equation for future colliders.Image credit: F. Tsung/W. An/UCLA/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
