Storage rings for spin-polarized hydrogen

Abstract

A strong-focusing storage ring is proposed for the long-term magnetic confinement of a collisional gas of neutral spin-polarized hydrogen atoms in the |a〉 and |b〉 hyperfine states. The trap uses the interaction of the magnetic moments of the gas atoms with a static magnetic field. Laser cooling and evaporative cooling can be utilized to enhance the confinement and to offset the influence of viscous heating. An important application of the trap is to the attainment of Bose–Einstein condensation.