Exotic atoms and molecules

A many-body theory of binding interactions between positrons and polar and nonpolar molecules is developed, showing agreement with experimental data up to within 1%.

Combinatorial optimization is one of the areas for which quantum computing promises to overcome classical devices. An experiment with arrays of Rydberg atoms now shows how to solve combinatorial graph problems with auxiliary atomic wires.

A study reports on the observation of a new type of molecular bond between an ion and a Rydberg atom and characterizes the resulting molecule using an ion microscope study.

The spectral lines of antiprotonic helium atoms are shown to retain their sub-gigahertz linewidth upon submersion in a bath of superfluid helium, enabling the hyperfine structure to be resolved.

Multiple high-precision measurement campaigns at CERN of the antiproton-to-proton charge-to-mass ratio—to a precision of 16 parts per trillion—in a cryogenic multi-Penning trap offer no evidence of charge–parity–time violation, and set stringent limits on the clock-weak-equivalence principle.