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Abstract The hydrogen atom is a touchstone for the foundations, evolution and frontiers of quantum theory^1–9. Key spectral lines of this atom have been determined to remarkable precision^10,11. Our research focuses on the study of antihydrogen, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. We test fundamental symmetries of nature (such as simultaneous charge conjugation, parity inversion, and time reversal or CPT symmetry) through precision comparisons of these atomic systems¹². Recent 1S–2S spectroscopic measurements on trapped antihydrogen have achieved relative precisions of parts per trillion (refs. ^13,14). However, the ground-state hyperfine splitting, which is sensitive to the internal structure of the antiproton, has only been measured to 400 parts per million (ppm). Here we report a 4 ppm measurement of the antihydrogen ground-state hyperfine splitting energya_1S, advancing the state-of-the-art precision¹⁵by two orders of magnitude. From microwave spectroscopy experiments with roughly 24,000 anti-atoms, we determine$${a}_{1{\rm{S}}}/h=\mathrm{1,420,404.8}\pm 1.1(\mathrm{stat.})\pm 5.6\,(\mathrm{sys.})\,\text{kHz}$$ $a_{1S}/h=\mathrm{1,420,404.8}\pm 1.1\left(\mathrm{stat.}\right)\pm 5.6\left(\mathrm{sys.}\right)\text{kHz}$in a 1-T magnetic field, consistent with expectations for hydrogen¹¹. At this level, our measurement is sensitive to the internal structure of the antiproton, which contributes at about 40 ppm and is approaching the limit of existing theoretical analyses¹⁶. The gains we report are the product of marked advances in magnetic trap field control, stabilization and characterization; anti-atom spin-state manipulation; and improved antihydrogen accumulation rate¹⁷. 

Abstract Antihydrogen, the bound state of a positron and an antiproton, is the only pure anti-atomic system ever studied. It is produced exclusively in the laboratory, as it has never been observed in nature. This unique system is of great interest for searching for tentative differences between matter and antimatter. Antihydrogen has been routinely trapped since 2010 and accumulated since 2017, enabling, for example, the first precision spectroscopic study of the anti-atom in 2018 and the first observation of the influence of gravity in 2023. Here we report an eight-fold increase in the trapping rate of antihydrogen, enabled by sympathetic cooling of positrons with laser-cooled beryllium ions. With beryllium sympathetic cooling, we now accumulate over 15000 antihydrogen atoms in under seven hours. This technique transforms our ability to study systematic and sidereal effects in existing experiments while paving the way for studies that would otherwise remain out of reach. 

Magnetically trapped antihydrogen atoms can be cooled by expanding the volume of the trap in which they are confined. We report a proof-of-principle experiment in which antiatoms are deliberately released from expanded and static traps. Antiatoms escape at an average trap depth of $0.08\pm 0.01\mathrm{K}$(statistical errors only) from the expanded trap while they escape at average depths of $0.22\pm 0.01$and $0.17\pm 0.01\mathrm{K}$from two different static traps. (We employ temperature-equivalent energy units.) Detailed simulations qualitatively agree with the escape times measured in the experiment and show a decrease of $38\%$(statistical $\text{error}<0.2\%$) in the mean energy of the population after the trap expansion without significantly increasing antiatom loss compared to typical static confinement protocols. This change is bracketed by the predictions of one-dimensional and three-dimensional semianalytic adiabatic expansion models. These experimental, simulational, and model results are consistent with obtaining an adiabatically cooled population of antihydrogen atoms that partially exchanged energy between axial and transverse degrees of freedom during the trap expansion. This result is important for future antihydrogen gravitational experiments which rely on adiabatic cooling, and it will enable antihydrogen cooling beyond the fundamental limits of laser cooling. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Site U1561 (30˚43.2902′S, 26˚41.7162′W; proposed Site SATL-55A) is in the central South Atlantic Ocean at a water depth of 4910 meters below sea level (mbsl) ~1250 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (see Figure F1 and Tables T1, T2, all in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024d]) on crust that formed at a slow half spreading rate of ~13.5 mm/y, which is the slowest spreading rate in the study region (Kardell et al., 2019; Christeson et al., 2020; see Figure F7 in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024d]). With an estimated age of 61.2 Ma, Site U1561 is the oldest location of the South Atlantic Transect (SAT) campaign (International Ocean Discovery Program [IODP] Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393). Site U1561 sits on a basement ridge and is therefore less heavily sedimented than Sites U1556 and U1557, which are located ~25 km south of Site U1561 on 61.2 and 60.7 Ma ocean crust, respectively. Together, all sites in this region allow for investigation of the effect of sediment thickness on crustal evolution. 

This section provides an overview of operations, depth conventions, core handling, curatorial procedures, and analyses performed on the R/V JOIDES Resolution during the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) South Atlantic Transect (SAT) Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393. This information applies only to shipboard work described in the Expedition reports section of the SAT Proceedings of the International Ocean Discovery Program volume. Methods used by investigators for shore-based analyses of expedition samples and data will be described in separate individual postexpedition research publications. 

Site U1558 (30°53.7814′S, 24°50.4822′W; proposed Site SATL-43A) is in the central South Atlantic Ocean at a water depth of ~4334 meters below sea level (mbsl) ~1067 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (see Figure F1 and Tables T1, T2, all in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024c]) on crust that formed at a slow half spreading rate of ~19.5 mm/y (Kardell et al., 2019; Christeson et al., 2020) (see Figure F7 in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024c]). With an estimated age of 49.2 Ma, Site U1558 is the second oldest location of the South Atlantic Transect (SAT) campaign (International Ocean Discovery Program [IODP] Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393). 

Site U1560 (30°24.2057′S, 16°55.3702′W; proposed Site SATL-25A) is in the central South Atlantic Ocean at a water depth of ~3723 meters below sea level (mbsl), ~315 km west of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the low-productivity South Atlantic Gyre (see Figure F1 and Tables T1, T2, all in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024b]). The crust formed at an intermediate half spreading rate of ~25.5 mm/y, which is the highest spreading rate in the study region (Kardell et al., 2019; Christeson et al., 2020) (see Figure F7 in the Expedition 390/393 summary chapter [Coggon et al., 2024b]). With an estimated age of 15.2 Ma, Site U1560 is the second youngest location of the South Atlantic Transect (SAT) campaign (International Ocean Discovery Program [IODP] Expeditions 390C, 395E, 390, and 393). Site U1560 is similar in age but is in a contrasting environment to the deep drilling at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP)/Integrated Ocean Drilling Program superfast Site 1256 (Wilson et al., 2006; Expedition 309/312 Scientists, 2006; Expedition 335 Scientists, 2012), which is on crust that formed at the East Pacific Rise during an episode of superfast spreading rate in a region of high pelagic productivity and rapid sedimentation (Shipboard Scientific Party, 2003).