Particle Physics Seminar

PAMELA was launched into an elliptical orbit with an inclination of 70 degrees on June 15th 2006. A permanent magnet silicon strip spectrometer combined to a silicon-tungsten imaging calorimeter allows precision studies of the charged cosmic particles to be conducted over a wide energy range (~100 MeV - 100's GeV) with high statistics. The primary scientific goal is the measurement of the antiproton and positron energy spectrum in order to search for exotic sources. PAMELA is also searching for primordial antinuclei (anti-helium), and testing cosmic-ray propagation models through precise measurements of the energy spectrum of antiparticle, of light nuclei and their isotopes. Concomitant goals include a study low energy particles and solar modulation during the 24th solar minimum and the reconstruction of the cosmic ray electron energy spectrum, up to several TeV, this will allow the study of a possible contribution from local sources. A short introduction on the physics history of antimatter and on the status of the PAMELA experiment will lead to a discussion of the present scientific results.