Direct measurement of the parapositronium lifetime in alpha-SiO2.

The mean lifetime of delocalized parapositronium in alpha-SiO2 has been determined directly for the first time using a newly developed positron lifetime spectrometer based on BaF2 scintillators and a fast digital oscilloscope. The lifetime is found to be 156+/-4 ps, which is much longer than its intrinsic lifetime of 125 ps. This indicates clearly that the primary many-body effect on positronium in alpha-SiO2 is the screening of the Coulomb interaction between the constituent particles by electrons of the medium and that the average distance between the electron and positron in positronium becomes larger than its vacuum value.