Antimatter

[PaulaJedi]

Discuss everything anti-matter here! I am new to this topic, so I'm just going to be the catalyst to get this conversation started and I will probably ask questions as people kindly discuss.

According to CERN, every particle has a "corresponding antiparticle" with an opposite charge. They state that every electron should have a corresponding "antielectron" as well. (I am not sure why they are using the word 'should' unless they are unsure). This is basically where matter an antimatter come from. The article in the link below suggests there could be entire galaxies made of antimatter. Again, 'could', so this appears to be a theory. They also question why there appears to be more antimatter in the universe.

Do you believe there is more antimatter? Why? Let's discuss.

Antimatter | CERN

 

[Martian]

It was once stated that antimatter behaves exactly like ordinary matter would if it was moving backward in time. There's more than one way to create the stuff, but a common method is to collide particles at relativistic velocities. The common view according to relativity is that a particle or object has a 4-dimensional position and velocity, and as it moves faster in space, its speed through time slows down. Thus, we may consider 2 particles with vastly different speeds (say, one at 99.999% the speed of light and the other stationary) to have a slight temporal displacement relative to one another. If they collide and scatter elastically, one particle will be pushed forward in time, and the other will be pushed backward in time. Consider the simpler example of 2 billiard balls colliding:

Pretend that the vertical axis in the animation is time, and the horizontal axis is space. Even though the initial momentum is entirely horizontal, the relative vertical displacement of the objects results in vertical momentum being transferred to both objects. It is interesting to note that matter and antimatter tend to be created simultaneously in a particle accelerator.

 

[Itheblaze]

Yes, I've heard about the antisocial people living in the antimatter galaxies. They drink anti-freeze, and munch on antipasto. They bath in antiseptic despite the fact they are full of antibodies. Sadly, they anticipate the arrival of the Anti-christ but he's so anticlimactic and hasn't been able to come.