Research report 2017 - Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
High-precision measurement of the proton mass
Authors
Köhler-Langes, Florian; Heiße, Fabian; Rau, Sascha; Sturm, Sven und Blaum, Klaus
Departments
Gespeicherte und gekühlte Ionen, Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik
Summary
From single molecules to entire planets – all the visible matter surrounding us consists of atoms. In turn all atoms are composed of only three types of particles. Electrons form the atomic shells, protons and neutrons the atomic nuclei. The basis for a better understanding of this atomic structure is the precise knowledge of its properties, such as the masses of the mentioned particles. The world's most accurate measurement of the mass of the proton has now been achieved with an elaborate Penning-trap apparatus [1].