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First Precise Measurement of Antihydrogen
Hydrogen’s electron and proton have oppositely charged antimatter counterparts in antihydrogen: the positron and antiproton. Image credit: NSF.
The best science — the questions that capture and compel any human being — is enshrouded in mystery. Here’s an example: scientists expect that matter and antimatter were created in equal quantities shortly after the Big Bang. If this had been the case, the two types of particles would have annihilated each other, leaving a Universe permeated by energy.
As our existence attests, that did not happen. In fact, nature seems to have a one-part in 10 billion preference for matter over antimatter. It’s one of the greatest mysteries in modern physics.
But the Large Hadron Collider is working hard, literally pushing matter to the limit, to solve this captivating mystery. This week, CERN created a beam of antihydrogen atoms, allowing scientists to take precise measurements of this elusive antimatter for the first time.(…)
Read the rest of First Precise Measurement of Antihydrogen (386 words)
© Shannon Hall for Universe Today, 2014. |
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Post tags: antimatter, CERN, large hadron collider, particle physics, Physics
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/112395/first-precise-measurement-of-antihydrogen/
