University of Groningen joins the AMS-02 collaboration

With the appointment of the Rosalind Franklin Fellow Dr. Manuela Vecchi at KVI-CART, the University of Groningen recently became part of the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02), a cosmic rays detector operating aboard the International Space Station. As a magnetic spectrometer, AMS-02 is unique in physics research as it studies charged particles and nuclei from original sources in the cosmos before they interact in the Earth’s atmosphere. The improvement in accuracy over previous measurements is made possible through its long duration time in space, large acceptance, built in redundant systems and its thorough calibration in the CERN test beam. These features enable AMS-02 to analyze the data to an accuracy of about 1% and thereby requiring new theories to be developed by the physics and astrophysics community.

Dr. Vecchi has been part of the project since 2011, her activity being focused on antimatter measurement sand its phenomenological implications.