A proposal for laser cooling antihydrogen atoms

We present a scheme for laser cooling applicable to an extremely dilute sample of magnetically trapped antihydrogen atoms ((H) over bar). Exploiting and controlling the dynamical coupling between the (H) over bar 's motional degrees of freedom in a magnetic trap, three-dimensional cooling can be achieved from Doppler cooling in one dimension using the 1s(1/2) - 2p(3/2) transition. The lack of three-dimensional access to the trapped (H) over bar and the nearly separable nature of the trapping potential leads to difficulties in cooling. Using realistic models for the spatial variation of the magnetic fields, we find that it should be possible to cool the (H) over bar 's to similar to 20 mK even with these constraints.