Many-body theory of positron binding to polyatomic molecules

Slashing the gap between positron measurements and calculations

31 October 2022

A far more accurate method for calculating the energies with which positrons — the antimatter equivalent of electrons — bind to molecules will enhance techniques that use them to probe materials.

Routinely produced in hospitals and physics labs, positrons are used for medical imaging and to measure material parameters. Their binding energies with about 90 molecules have been measured in the lab, but theoretical estimates of these energies have been off by more than 25%.

Now, a team led by researchers from Queen’s University Belfast in the United Kingdom has developed a theory that achieves excellent agreement with experimentally measured positron binding energies.

The new theory advances our fundamental understanding of how positrons interact with matter, and it will help researcher exploring the nature of antimatter. It will also benefit practical applications such as medical imaging and materials science measurements.

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References

1. Nature 606, 688–693 (2022). doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04703-3