TITLE:

POSITRONIC ATOMS — ONE WAY FOR MATTER AND ANTIMATTER TO (BRIEFLY) COEXIST (No. 116)

DATE:

Friday, May 5th, 2006

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 214

SPEAKER:

Michael Bromley, Department of Physics, San Diego State University

ABSTRACT:

The positron is the antiparticle of the electron (same mass but

positive charge), is the most common antiparticle, and is now used

in everything from medical imaging (PET-scans) to locating defects in

materials. It has been known for about a decade that positrons can

bind to neutral atoms, and this talk will review recent computational

research on the 11 known positronic atoms. This talk will also

contain some configuration-interaction calculations of helium as a

testbed for understanding electron-electron interactions, an age-old

problem that causes both atomic physicists and quantum chemists alike

to lose sleep. Given that even helium is ‘slowly convergent’, I will

then struggle to find an adjective that characterises the convergence

properties of mixed-positron-electron systems.

HOST:

Jose Castillo

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