Overview

• CERN’s BASE collaboration trapped single antiprotons in electromagnetic Penning traps and sustained coherent spin oscillations for 50 seconds.
• This experiment constitutes the first realization of an antimatter qubit and enables coherent quantum transition spectroscopy on a solitary antiproton.
• Decoherence was suppressed by enhancing magnetic field stability and eliminating sources of spin disruption that hindered earlier incoherent measurements.
• The findings were published in Nature on July 23, confirming a viable new platform for sub–parts-per-billion tests of charge–parity–time symmetry.
• Researchers plan to deploy the BASE-STEP portable trap system to transport antiprotons to quieter magnetic environments and target up to 100-fold gains in antiproton magnetic moment precision.