Preliminary Design of the AEGIS Test Facility

The AEGIS experiment is expected to be installed at the CERN Antiproton Decelerator in a very close future, since the main goal of the AEGIS experiment is the measurement of gravity impact on antihydrogen, which will be produced on the purpose. Antihydrogen production implies very challenging environmental conditions: at the heart of the AEGIS facility 50 mK temperature, 1e-12 mbar pressure and a 1 T magnetic field are required. Interfacing extreme cryogenics with ultra high vacuum will affect very strongly the design of the whole facility, requiring a very careful mechanical design. This paper presents an overview of the actual design of the AEGIS experimental facility, paying special care to mechanical aspects. Each subsystem of the facility – ranging from the positron source to the recombination region and the measurement region – will be shortly described. The ultra cold region, which is the most critical with respect to the antihydrogen formation, will be dealt in detail. The assembly procedures will be considered too, as they are expected to be critical to make the set-up phase easier, as well as to make possible any future improvement of the facility itself.