4/3/2023 0 Comments What is antimatter![]() ![]() However, when a particle jumps up from a lower energy state, it appears as a normal particle but leaves a “hole”, which appears to us as a strange, mirror-image particle – antimatter.ĭespite initial scepticism, examples of these particle-antiparticle pairs were soon found. He envisioned that all of the “normal” energy levels that exist are accounted for by “normal” particles. This seemed impossible at the time, as it meant that energies could be negative.ĭirac, however, accepted that the equations were telling him that particles are really filling a whole “sea” of these lower energies – a sea that had so far been invisible to physicists as they were only looking “above the surface”. Previously, scientists were stumped by the fact that it seemed to predict that particles could have energies lower than when they were at “rest” (ie pretty much doing nothing). Such particles were first predicted by British physicist Paul Dirac when he was trying to combine the two great ideas of early modern physics: relativity and quantum mechanics. When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they annihilate each other – disappearing in a burst of light. But its antiparticle, called a positron, has the same mass but a positive charge. For example, an electron has a negative charge. It is believed that every particle we know of has an antimatter companion that is virtually identical to itself, but with the opposite charge. What’s more, research on antimatter is actually helping us to understand how the universe works.Īntimatter is a material composed of so-called antiparticles. Picked up by fiction writers such as Dan Brown, many people think of it as an “out there” theoretical idea – unaware that it is actually being produced every day. ![]() ![]() Antimatter was one of the most exciting physics discoveries of the 20th century. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |