Antimatter
hideIn particle physics, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, an antielectron (a positron, an electron with a positive charge) and an antiproton (a proton with a negative charge) could form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter and antimatter would lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs.
There is considerable speculation as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, whether there exist other places that are almost entirely antimatter instead, and what might be possible if antimatter could be harnessed, but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. The process by which this asymmetry between particles and antiparticles developed is called baryogenesis.
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News tagged with antimatter
'Bubbles' of Broken Symmetry in Quark Soup at RHIC (w/ Video)
Feb 15, 2010 |
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Scientists at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a 2.4-mile-circumference particle accelerator at the U.S. DOE's Brookhaven National Laboratory, report the first hints of profound symmetry transformations ...
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Geneva atom smasher seeks dark matter discoveries
Mar 08, 2010 |
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(AP) -- The world's largest atom smasher could generate its first scientific breakthrough later this year when operators hope to make discoveries into the elusive nature of dark matter, the director of the ...
From two-trillion-degree heat, researchers create new matter -- and new questions
Mar 04, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A worldwide team of researchers have for the first time created a particle that is believed to have been in existence immediately after the creation of the universe - the so-called "Big Bang" ...
Measuring material hotter than the sun
Mar 02, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Three Vanderbilt physicists are members of the scientific team that have reported creating an exotic state of matter with a temperature of four trillion degrees Celsius. It's the hottest temperature ...
Dark matter detective arrives at ESTEC
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 17, 2010 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- One of the most exciting scientific instruments ever built, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), arrived at ESA's Test Centre in the Netherlands for testing before being launched on the ...
AMS experiment embarks on first leg of mission into space
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Feb 12, 2010 |
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The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) left CERN this morning on the first leg of its journey to the International Space Station (ISS). A special convoy carrying the experiment is due to arrive at the European Space Agency’s ...
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