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antimatter


anti-hydrogen
An atom (or, rather, anti-atom) of anti-hydrogen consists of a positron in orbit around an anti-proton
Material with properties equivalent to those of matter but with the quantum properties of the constituent subatomic particles reversed; for example, the particles' charges are opposite. Antimatter is composed of antiparticles. (Note that both the mass and energy of antimatter is positive not negative. (See negative mass.) Thus, antimatter does not give rise to antigravity.

Antimatter happens to be rare in our universe. However, it is believed that in the Big Bang equal quantities of matter and antimatter were created. The fact that the universe now contains matter and not antimatter is known as the matter-antimatter asymmetry. To understand how this asymmetry came about is a major goal of contemporary particle physics and astrophysics. An experiment called the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, due to launch to the International Space Station in May 2011, is designed to shed new light on this issue.

When particles and antiparticles meet, mutual annihilation takes place.


Record-breaking antimatter

Antimatter can be created briefly in laboratory high-energy collisions. The heaviest pieces of antimatter ever formed artificially are nuclei of anti-helium, each containing two anti-protons and two anti-neutrons. They were created and detected at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) in Upton, New York, in 2011. The next heaviest anti-element, anti-lithium, could in theory form solid antimatter at room temperature, but will be much harder to make.


External site

Antimatter at CERN (European particle accelerator)


Archived news

Getting a grip on antimatter (Aug 31, 2004)


Related entry

   • antimatter propulsion


Related category

   • PARTICLE PHYSICS


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Encyclopedia of Alternative Energy & Sustainable Living
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