Antimatter - Introduction

By -

  Table of contents 

ANTIMATTER - 

INTRODUCTION

View my previous article here -

View the next article here -

-----------------------------------------

Most of us have come across the word - matter. Matter is found all around us. Our universe is formed from matter. Matter is formed of atoms that have particles called electrons which are negatively charged.

Then what is antimatter?

Let us return to 1928 when Paul Dirac gave a brand new and stylish equation to explain how particles like electrons behave after they travel near the speed of light. He found that the equation had two solutions (just like how x^2 = 2 has two solutions: x=2 and x= -2) - one for an electron with a negative charge and the other for an electron with a positive charge. The matter that we see around is created of atoms that have negatively charged electrons. So, Dirac dismissed the 2nd solution i.e. of positively charged electrons as a mathematical artefact. However, 3 years later, he claimed that the 2nd solution was indeed true. 
This gave rise to ANTIMATTER.

So what exactly is antimatter?

Antimatter is strictly like matter except that the atoms have a positively charged electron.

Scientifically speaking, the proper way to define antimatter would be -

"Antimatter refers to sub-atomic particles that have properties opposite normal sub-atomic particles. Antimatter is the opposite of normal matter. More specifically, the sub-atomic particles of antimatter have properties opposite those of normal matter."

Antimatter has the same mass and same spin as that of matter. It only has an opposite electric charge. 

In matter, quarks form protons. Thus, in antimatter, antiquarks compose antiprotons.
In matter, we've negatively charged electrons. In antimatter, we've got positively charged electrons (positrons).

FIRST DETECTION OF ANTIMATTER:

The first detection of antimatter was made in 1932 by Carl Anderson. He took an image of a particle whose tracks had been left in a cloud chamber. The particle had the identical mass as an electron, but an opposite charge. 
This verified Dirac's mathematical prediction! 

ANTIMATTER IS 

CLOSER TO YOU 

THAN YOU THINK!

Small amounts of antimatter constantly come down on the planet in the form of cosmic rays, energetic particles from space.
Scientists have also seen evidence of antimatter production above thunderstorms.

  • Scientists using NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope have detected beams of antimatter produced above thunderstorms on Earth, a phenomenon never seen before.

  • Scientists think the antimatter particles were formed during a terrestrial gamma-ray flash (TGF), a quick burst produced inside thunderstorms and shown to be related to lightning. 

  • Click here to know more!


Bananas produce antimatter, releasing one positron—the antimatter equivalent of an electron—about every 75 minutes. 
  • This occurs because bananas contain a small amount of potassium-40, a naturally occurring isotope of potassium. As potassium-40 decays, it occasionally spits out a positron in the process. 
  • Our bodies also contain potassium-40, which implies positrons are being emitted from you, too. Antimatter annihilates immediately on contact with matter, so these antimatter particles are very short-lived.
  • Click here to know more!

Read an article on - 

THE QUESTION THAT ARISES:

According to the big bang theory, the big bang should have created equal amounts of matter and antimatter. When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate. So why was there any matter left that led to the creation of the universe, as we see it today?

There are theories that are employed by scientists to come up with solutions for the same.

  1. Maybe all the matter and antimatter didn't annihilate. Some antimatter may have been separated and still exist as anti-planets, anti-stars, anti-galaxies, or even anti-universe! 
  2. The second theory is that after the big bang, there was an imbalance between matter and antimatter. Scientists believe that for every billion anti-protons, there have been one + billion protons. this might seem tiny; however, this imbalance is enough to make the universe as we see it today.
Scientists are still conducting experiments... However, the question, "Given that matter and antimatter annihilate, how can we still exist?" continues to puzzle scientists all around the world.
What do you think is the answer? 🤔

-----------------------------------------

View the next article here -

View my previous article here -

View more structured order of the articles here -

-----------------------------------------

Feel free to ask/share anything additional in the comments section!

I am still learning Particle physics, but will try my best to answer your questions :)

Kindly let me know about any error here.

You can also share anything additional for this article here.

View my previous article here -

View the next article here -

View more structured order of the articles here -

See more articles here -

Solve brain teasers! View my other blog here-

With Warm Wishes,
Lavanya

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What are Quarks, Leptons and Bosons?

By -
    Table of contents  WHAT ARE  QUARKS, LEPTONS  AND  BOSONS? View my previous article here - How were Neutrinos Discovered? View the next article here - The Fundamental Forces ----------------------------------------- Here is a brief overview of what are quarks, leptons and bosons - families of particles that make up the Standard Model! (Based on what has been discussed so far).  * ADDITIONAL * -  A fermion is any particle that has an odd half-integer (like 1/2, 3/2, and so forth) spin.  Quarks  and  leptons , as well as most composite particles, like  protons  and  neutrons , are fermions. QUARKS: Quarks are subatomic particles that are found in protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus. There are 6 quarks .  Up quark and Down quark belong to the first generation. Charm quark and Strange quark belong to the second generation. Top quark and Bottom quark belong to the third generation. The second and third generation particles are more massive and unstable when compared to the
Read more

Particle Physics - Introduction

By -
Table of contents   PARTICLE PHYSICS - INTRODUCTION View the next article here - More on Particle Physics and Why it matters? ----------------------------------------- What is Particle physics? Let me give a hint by telling you what particles are? Everything in our universe is made up of extremely small components known as particles. Now did you get it? Particle Physics is nothing but the study of how our universe was made and what our universe is constituted of. To prove their existence and see how they behave, scientists observe them until the particles leave a sign. Often, instead of waiting for the particles to leave a sign, they make particles by colliding known particles. How? Well, the accelerators speed up the known particles almost to the speed of light. The particles collide and release massive energy, which results in the creation of new particles. This is why Particle physics is also known as High Energy Physics . At present, there are 17 particles that have been identifie
Read more

Gluons

By -
Image
    Table of contents  GLUONS View my previous article here - Introduction to Quantum Electrodynamics and Quantum Chromodynamics View the next article here - Introduction to Feynman Diagrams ----------------------------------------- Just like how electrons carry the electric charge, the quarks also carry the electric charge, but this electric charge is weaker in quarks. Quarks additionally carry a coloured charge , as discussed in the previous article . This coloured charge generates a gluon force field. An accelerating quark creates a vibrating ripple in the gluon field, which is known as gluons. Just like how a photon can create an electron and positron (anti-electron) pair - energetic gluon can create a quark and antiquark pair - While the electromagnetic charge has only one version, the colour charge has 3. But the colour charge never shows up in the hadron quark combinations. (Keep reading to find out about hadrons.) This led to the idea that the three colour charges were red, yel
Read more