Towards trapping hydrogen molecules

Due to its simplicity, H2 constitutes a perfect tool for testing fundamental physics: testing quantum electrodynamics, determining fundamental constants, or searching for new physics beyond the Standard Model. H2 has a huge advantage over the other simple calculable systems of having a set of a few hundred ultralong living rovibrational states, which implies the ultimate limit for testing fundamental physics with H2 at a relative accuracy level of 10^-24. The present experiments are far from this limit. I will present our so far results of an ongoing project aimed at trapping cold H2. We develop an ultra-strong optical dipole trap. The time-dependent potential is going to recapture the coldest fraction of the cryogenic H2 cloud. We develop a new type of cryogenic effusive valve to prepare a cryogenic H2 sample. Besides the above-mentioned developments achieved in our labs in Torun (Poland), I will also discuss our recent results on 1D-trapping spectroscopy of H2 obtained in the group of Wim Ubachs in Amsterdam.