Antimatter

Overview

Annihilation

Devices Particle accelerator Penning trap

Antiparticles Positron Antiproton Antineutron

Uses PET Fuel Weaponry

Bodies ALPHA Collaboration ATHENA ATRAP CERN

People Paul Dirac Carl D. Anderson edit

In particle physics and quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the antiparticle to matter, where antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. Annihilation is defined as "total destruction" or "complete obliteration" of an object having its root in the Latin nihil (nothing Penning traps are devices for the storage of charged particles using a constant static Magnetic field and a spatially inhomogeneous static Electric field. to most kinds of particles, there is an associated antiparticle with the same Mass and opposite Electric charge. The positrons or antielectron is the Antiparticle or the Antimatter counterpart of the Electron. The antiproton ( pronounced p-bar) is the Antiparticle of the Proton. The antineutron is the Antiparticle of the Neutron. It was discovered (in proton-proton collisions in the Bevatron at Berkeley by Bruce Cork in Positron emission tomography ( PET) is a Nuclear medicine imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the In Particle physics and Quantum chemistry, antimatter is the extension of the concept of the Antiparticle to Matter, where antimatter is composed An antimatter weapon is a hypothetical device using Antimatter as a power source a propellant or an explosive for a Weapon. The ALPHA Collaboration (Antihydrogen Laser PHysics Apparatus consists of scientists from a number of scientific institutions whose goal it is to trap neutral Antimatter in ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. The ATRAP collaboration at CERN developed out of TRAP a collaboration whose members pioneered cold Antiprotons cold Positrons and first made the ingredients The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN Carl David Anderson ( 3 September 1905 &ndash 11 January 1991) was an American Physicist. Particle physics is a branch of Physics that studies the elementary constituents of Matter and Radiation, and the interactions between them Quantum chemistry is a branch of Theoretical chemistry, which applies Quantum mechanics and Quantum field theory to address issues and problems in to most kinds of particles, there is an associated antiparticle with the same Mass and opposite Electric charge. Matter is commonly defined as being anything that has mass and that takes up space. For example an antielectron (a positron, an electron with a positive charge) and an antiproton (a proton with a negative charge) could form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom. The positrons or antielectron is the Antiparticle or the Antimatter counterpart of the Electron. Furthermore, mixing of matter and antimatter would lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing of antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs. In Physics, the photon is the Elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena Gamma rays (denoted as &gamma) are a form of Electromagnetic radiation or light emission of frequencies produced by sub-atomic particle interactions The particles resulting from matter-antimatter annihilation are endowed with energy equal to the difference between the rest mass of the products of the annihilation and the rest mass of the original matter-antimatter pair, which is often quite large.

There is considerable speculation both in science and science fiction as to why the observable universe is apparently almost entirely matter, whether other places are almost entirely antimatter instead, and what might be possible if antimatter could be harnessed, but at this time the apparent asymmetry of matter and antimatter in the visible universe is one of the greatest unsolved problems in physics. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Asymmetry is the absence of or a violation of a Symmetry. In organisms Due to how cells divide in Organisms asymmetry in organisms is This is a list of some of the major unsolved problems in Physics. The process developing particles and antiparticles is called baryogenesis. In Physical cosmology, baryogenesis is the generic term for hypothetical physical processes that produced an asymmetry between Baryons and anti-baryons in

Contents 1 Notation 2 Origin (Naturally occurring production) 2.1 Asymmetry 3 Artificial production 3.1 Antihydrogen 3.2 Antihelium 3.3 Preservation 3.4 Cost 4 Uses 4.1 Medical 4.2 Fuel 5 Antimatter in fiction 5.1 Pop culture 5.2 Military 5.3 Stanisław Lem 5.4 Isaac Asimov 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Notation

One way to denote an antiparticle is by adding a bar (or macron) over the particle's symbol. A macron, from Greek el μακρόv ( makrón) meaning "long" is a Diacritic ¯ placed over or under a Vowel which was originally For example, the proton and antiproton are denoted as p and p, respectively. The same rule applies if you were to address a particle by its constituent components. A proton is made up of u u d quarks, so an antiproton must therefore be formed from u u d antiquarks. In Physics, a quark (kwɔrk kwɑːk or kwɑːrk is a type of Subatomic particle. In Physics, a quark (kwɔrk kwɑːk or kwɑːrk is a type of Subatomic particle. Another convention is to distinguish particles by their electric charge. Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some Subatomic particles which determines their Electromagnetic interaction. Thus, the electron and positron are denoted simply as e⁻ and e⁺ respectively.

Origin (Naturally occurring production)

Asymmetry

Most objects, observable from the Earth, seem to be built of matter rather than antimatter. There is no current reasoning over why matter prevailed over antimatter, but many believe it was the result of asymmetry, and some scientists believe that the ratio of this asymmetry was 1,000,000 antimatter particles to 1,000,001 matter particles. Antiparticles are created everywhere in the universe where high-energy particle collisions take place. The Universe is defined as everything that Physically Exists: the entirety of Space and Time, all forms of Matter, Energy High-energy cosmic rays impacting Earth's atmosphere (or any other matter in the solar system) produce minute quantities of antimatter in the resulting particle jets, which are immediately annihilated by contact with nearby matter. For the 1962 Bruce Conner film see Cosmic Ray (film Cosmic rays are energetic particles originating from space that impinge on The Solar System consists of the Sun and those celestial objects bound to it by Gravity. A jet is a narrow cone of Hadrons and other particles produced by the Hadronization of a Quark or Gluon in a Particle physics It may similarly be produced in regions like the center of the Milky Way Galaxy and other galaxies, where very energetic celestial events occur (principally the interaction of relativistic jets with the interstellar medium). The Milky Way (a translation of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the Greek Γαλαξίας (Galaxias sometimes referred to simply The lower-energy non-relativistic version of this phenomenon is described at Polar jet. The presence of the resulting antimatter is detectable by the gamma rays produced when positrons annihilate with nearby matter. Gamma rays (denoted as &gamma) are a form of Electromagnetic radiation or light emission of frequencies produced by sub-atomic particle interactions The positrons or antielectron is the Antiparticle or the Antimatter counterpart of the Electron. The gamma rays' frequency and wavelength indicate that each carries 511 keV of energy (i. e. the rest mass of an electron or positron multiplied by c²). The electron is a fundamental Subatomic particle that was identified and assigned the negative charge in 1897 by J Recent observations by the European Space Agency’s INTEGRAL (International Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory) satellite may explain the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding the galactic center. The observations show that the cloud is asymmetrical and matches the pattern of X-ray binaries, binary star systems containing black holes or neutron stars, mostly on one side of the galactic center. X-ray binaries are a class of Binary stars that are luminous in X-rays The X-rays are produced by matter falling from one component (usually a relatively normal A binary star is a Star system consisting of two Stars orbiting around their Center of mass. While the mechanism is not fully understood it is likely to involve the production of electron-positron pairs as ordinary matter gains tremendous energy while falling into a stellar remnant. ^[1][2]

Artificial production

Antiparticles are also produced in any environment with a sufficiently high temperature (mean particle energy greater than the pair production threshold). See also Electron-positron annihilation Meitner–Hupfeld effect Pair instability supernova The period of baryogenesis, when the universe was extremely hot and dense, matter and antimatter were continually produced and annihilated. In Physical cosmology, baryogenesis is the generic term for hypothetical physical processes that produced an asymmetry between Baryons and anti-baryons in The presence of remaining matter, and absence of detectable remaining antimatter,^[3] also called baryon asymmetry, is attributed to violation of the CP-symmetry relating matter and antimatter. See also Baryogenesis The baryon asymmetry problem in Physics refers to the apparent fact that the Baryons in the universe which have been In Particle physics, CP violation is a violation of the postulated CP symmetry of the laws of physics In Particle physics, CP violation is a violation of the postulated CP symmetry of the laws of physics The exact mechanism of this violation during baryogenesis remains a mystery.

Positrons are also produced via the radioactive beta⁺ decay, but this mechanism can be considered as "natural" as well as "artificial". In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted

Antihydrogen

In 1995 CERN announced that it had successfully created nine antihydrogen atoms by implementing the SLAC/Fermilab concept during the PS210 experiment. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ( Fermilab) located in Batavia near Chicago, Illinois, is a U The PS210 experiment was the first experiment that led to the observation of Antihydrogen Atoms produced at the "Low Energy Antiproton Ring" LEAR The experiment was performed using the Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR), and was led by Walter Oelert and Mario Macri. Fermilab soon confirmed the CERN findings by producing approximately 100 antihydrogen atoms at their facilities. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN

The antihydrogen atoms created during PS210, and subsequent experiments (at both CERN and Fermilab) were extremely energetic ("hot") and were not well suited to study. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN To resolve this hurdle, and to gain a better understanding of antihydrogen, two collaborations were formed in the late 1990s — ATHENA and ATRAP. ATHENA was an Antimatter research project that took place at the AD Ring at CERN. The ATRAP collaboration at CERN developed out of TRAP a collaboration whose members pioneered cold Antiprotons cold Positrons and first made the ingredients In 2005, ATHENA disbanded and some of the former members (along with others) formed the ALPHA Collaboration, which is also situated at CERN. The ALPHA Collaboration (Antihydrogen Laser PHysics Apparatus consists of scientists from a number of scientific institutions whose goal it is to trap neutral Antimatter in The primary goal of these collaborations is the creation of less energetic ("cold") antihydrogen, better suited to study.

In 1999 CERN activated the Antiproton Decelerator, a device capable of decelerating antiprotons from 3. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN The Antiproton Decelerator (AD is a particle accelerator at the CERN laboratory in Geneva. 5 GeV to 5. 3 MeV — still too "hot" to produce study-effective antihydrogen, but a huge leap forward. In late 2002 the ATHENA project announced that they had created the world's first "cold" antihydrogen. The antiprotons used in the experiment were cooled sufficiently by decelerating them (using the Antiproton Decelerator), passing them through a thin sheet of foil, and finally capturing them in a Penning trap. Penning traps are devices for the storage of charged particles using a constant static Magnetic field and a spatially inhomogeneous static Electric field. The antiprotons also underwent stochastic cooling at several stages during the process. Stochastic cooling is a form of Particle beam cooling. It is used in some Particle accelerators and Storage rings to control the Emittance of

The ATHENA team's antiproton cooling process is effective, but highly inefficient. Approximately 25 million antiprotons leave the Antiproton Decelerator; roughly 10 thousand make it to the Penning trap. In early 2004 ATHENA researchers released data on a new method of creating low-energy antihydrogen. The technique involves slowing antiprotons using the Antiproton Decelerator, and injecting them into a Penning trap (specifically a Penning-Malmberg trap). Penning traps are devices for the storage of charged particles using a constant static Magnetic field and a spatially inhomogeneous static Electric field. Once trapped the antiprotons are mixed with electrons that have been cooled to an energy potential significantly less than the antiprotons; the resulting Coulomb collisions cool the antiprotons while warming the electrons until the particles reach an equilibrium of approximately 4 K. At a point in space the electric potential is the Potential energy per unit of charge that is associated with a static (time-invariant Electric field

While the antiprotons are being cooled in the first trap, a small cloud of positron plasma is injected into a second trap (the mixing trap). In Physics and Chemistry, plasma is an Ionized Gas, in which a certain proportion of Electrons are free rather than being bound Exciting the resonance of the mixing trap’s confinement fields can control the temperature of the positron plasma; but the procedure is more effective when the plasma is in thermal equilibrium with the trap’s environment. In Physics, resonance is the tendency of a system to Oscillate at maximum Amplitude at certain frequencies, known as the system's The positron plasma cloud is generated in a positron accumulator prior to injection; the source of the positrons is usually radioactive sodium.

Once the antiprotons are sufficiently cooled, the antiproton-electron mixture is transferred into the mixing trap (containing the positrons). The electrons are subsequently removed by a series of fast pulses in the mixing trap's electrical field. When the antiprotons reach the positron plasma further Coulomb collisions occur, resulting in further cooling of the antiprotons. When the positrons and antiprotons approach thermal equilibrium antihydrogen atoms begin to form. Being electrically neutral the antihydrogen atoms are not affected by the trap and can leave the confinement fields.

Using this method ATHENA researchers predict they will be able to create up to 100 antihydrogen atoms per operational second. ATHENA and ATRAP are now seeking to further cool the antihydrogen atoms by subjecting them to an inhomogeneous field. While antihydrogen atoms are electrically neutral, their spin produces magnetic moments. In Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, and Electrical engineering, the term magnetic moment of a system (such as a loop of Electric current These magnetic moments vary depending on the spin direction of the atom, and can be deflected by inhomogeneous fields regardless of electrical charge.

The biggest limiting factor in the production of antimatter is the availability of antiprotons. Recent data released by CERN states that when fully operational their facilities are capable of producing 10⁷ antiprotons per second. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN Assuming an optimal conversion of antiprotons to antihydrogen, it would take two billion years to produce 1 gram of antihydrogen (approximately 6. 02×10²³ atoms of antihydrogen. ) Another limiting factor to antimatter production is storage. As stated above there is no known way to effectively store antihydrogen. The ATHENA project has managed to keep antihydrogen atoms from annihilation for tens of seconds — just enough time to briefly study their behaviour.

Hydrogen atoms are simplest objects, that can be considered as "matter" rather than as just particles. Simultaneous trapping of antiprotons and antielectrons was reported^[4] and the cooling is achieved;^[5] there are patents on the way of production of antihydrogen. ^[6] In spite of this progress, the confinment time is not yet long, and the antimatter is not yet available at the market.

Antihelium

A small number of nuclei of the antihelium isotope, have been created in collision experiments. ^[7]

Preservation

Antimatter cannot be stored in a container made of ordinary matter because antimatter reacts with any matter it touches, annihilating itself and the container. Antimatter that is composed of charged particles can be contained by a combination of an electric field and a magnetic field in a device known as a Penning trap. In Physics, a charged particle is a particle with an Electric charge. In Physics, the space surrounding an Electric charge or in the presence of a time-varying Magnetic field has a property called an electric field (that can In Physics, a magnetic field is a Vector field that permeates space and which can exert a magnetic force on moving Electric charges Penning traps are devices for the storage of charged particles using a constant static Magnetic field and a spatially inhomogeneous static Electric field. This device cannot, however, contain antimatter that consists of uncharged particles, and atomic traps are used. In particular, such a trap may use the dipole moment (electrical or magnetic) of the trapped particles; at high vacuum, the matter or anti-matter particles can be trapped (suspended) and cooled with slightly off-resonant laser radiation (see, for, example, magneto-optical trap and Magnetic trap). In physics there are two kinds of dipoles ( Hellènic: di(s- = two- and pòla = pivot hinge An electric dipole is a In Physics, the electric dipole moment (or electric dipole for short is a measure of the polarity of a system of Electric charges. In Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, and Electrical engineering, the term magnetic moment of a system (such as a loop of Electric current A magneto-optical trap (abbreviated MOT) is a device that cools down non-charged atoms to temperatures near Absolute zero and traps them at a certain place using magnetic A magnetic trap uses a magnetic gradient in order to trap neutral particles with a Magnetic moment. Small particles can be also suspended by just intensive optical beam in the optical tweezers. An optical tweezer is a scientific instrument that uses a focused Laser beam to provide an attractive or repulsive force (typically on the order of pico Newtons) depending

Cost

Antimatter is said to be the most expensive substance in existence, with an estimated cost of $300 billion per milligram. This is because production is difficult (only a few atoms are produced in reactions in particle accelerators), and because there is higher demand for the other uses of particle accelerators. According to CERN, it has cost a few hundred million Swiss Francs to produce about 1 billionth of a gram. ^[8]

Several NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts-funded studies are exploring whether it might be possible to use magnetic scoops to collect the antimatter that occurs naturally in the Van Allen belts of Earth, and ultimately, the belts of gas giants like Jupiter, hopefully at a lower cost per gram. NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts ( NIAC) was a NASA -funded program that was operated by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA The Van Allen radiation belt is a Torus of energetic Charged particles ( plasma) around Earth, held in place by Earth's Magnetic ^[9]

Uses

Medical

Antimatter-matter reactions have practical applications in medical imaging, such as positron emission tomography (PET). Positron emission tomography ( PET) is a Nuclear medicine imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the In positive beta decay, a nuclide loses surplus positive charge by emitting a positron (in the same event, a proton becomes a neutron, and neutrinos are also given off). In Nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of Radioactive decay in which a Beta particle (an Electron or a Positron) is emitted A nuclide (from lat nucleus is a species of Atom characterized by the constitution of its nucleus and hence by the number of Protons, the number of Neutrinos are Elementary particles that travel close to the Speed of light, lack an Electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost Nuclides with surplus positive charge are easily made in a cyclotron and are widely generated for medical use. A cyclotron is a type of Particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate Charged particles using a high- Frequency, alternating Voltage (potential

Fuel

In antimatter-matter collisions resulting in photon emission, the entire rest mass of the particles is converted to kinetic energy. In Physics, the photon is the Elementary particle responsible for electromagnetic phenomena The kinetic energy of an object is the extra Energy which it possesses due to its motion The energy per unit mass (9×10¹⁶ J/kg) is about 10 orders of magnitude greater than chemical energy (compared to TNT at 4. Energy density is the amount of Energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit Volume, or per unit Mass, depending on the context although An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it In Physics and other Sciences energy (from the Greek grc ἐνέργεια - Energeia, "activity operation" from grc ἐνεργός Trinitrotoluene ( TNT) is a Chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO23CH3 2×10⁶ J/kg, and formation of water at 1. The standard enthalpy of formation or "standard heat of formation" of a compound is the change of Enthalpy that accompanies the formation of 1 mole of a Water is a common Chemical substance that is essential for the survival of all known forms of Life. 56×10⁷ J/kg), about 4 orders of magnitude greater than nuclear energy that can be liberated today using nuclear fission (about 40 MeV per ²³⁸U nucleus transmuted to Lead, or 1. Nuclear Energy is released by the splitting (fission or merging together (fusion of the nuclei of Atom (s Nuclear fission is the splitting of the nucleus of an atom into parts (lighter nuclei) often producing Free neutrons and other smaller nuclei which may Uranium (jʊˈreɪniəm is a silvery-gray Metallic Chemical element in the Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly 5×10¹³ J/kg), and about 2 orders of magnitude greater than the best possible from fusion (about 6. In Physics and Nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple- like charged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus 3×10¹⁴ J/kg for the proton-proton chain). The proton-proton chain reaction is one of several fusion reactions by which Stars convert Hydrogen to Helium, the primary alternative being the The reaction of 1 kg of antimatter with 1 kg of matter would produce 1. 8×10¹⁷ J (180 petajoules) of energy (by the mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc²), or the rough equivalent of 47 megatons of TNT. The joule (written in lower case ˈdʒuːl or /ˈdʒaʊl/ (symbol J) is the SI unit of Energy measuring heat, Electricity In Physics, mass–energy equivalence is the concept that for particles slower than light any Mass has an associated Energy and vice versa. For comparison, Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated produced an estimated 57 mt and was capable of over 100mt, but utilized hundreds of kg's of fissile material. Tsar Bomba (ru Царь-бомба literally " King Bomb" is the Western name for the RDS-220 hydrogen bomb (codenamed "Иван" (Ivan by its A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion.

Not all of that energy can be utilized by any realistic technology, because as much as 50% of energy produced in reactions between nucleons and antinucleons is carried away by neutrinos, so, for all intents and purposes, it can be considered lost. Neutrinos are Elementary particles that travel close to the Speed of light, lack an Electric charge, are able to pass through ordinary matter almost ^[10]

The scarcity of antimatter means that it is not readily available to be used as fuel, although it could be used in antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion. Antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion is a variation of Nuclear pulse propulsion based upon the injection of Antimatter into a mass of nuclear fuel which normally Generating a single antiproton is immensely difficult and requires particle accelerators and vast amounts of energy—millions of times more than is released after it is annihilated with ordinary matter, due to inefficiencies in the process. Known methods of producing antimatter from energy also produce an equal amount of normal matter, so the theoretical limit is that half of the input energy is converted to antimatter. Counterbalancing this, when antimatter annihilates with ordinary matter, energy equal to twice the mass of the antimatter is liberated—so energy storage in the form of antimatter could (in theory) be 100% efficient. Antimatter production is currently very limited, but has been growing at a nearly geometric rate since the discovery of the first antiproton in 1955. The current antimatter production rate is between 1 and 10 nanograms per year, and this is expected to increase to between 3 and 30 nanograms per year by 2015 or 2020 with new superconducting linear accelerator facilities at CERN and Fermilab. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory ( Fermilab) located in Batavia near Chicago, Illinois, is a U Some researchers claim that with current technology, it is possible to obtain antimatter for US$25 million per gram by optimizing the collision and collection parameters (given current electricity generation costs). The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been Antimatter production costs, in mass production, are almost linearly tied in with electricity costs, so economical pure-antimatter thrust applications are unlikely to come online without the advent of such technologies as deuterium-tritium fusion power (assuming that such a power source actually would prove to be cheap). Deuterium, also called heavy hydrogen, is a Stable isotope of Hydrogen with a Natural abundance in the Oceans of Earth Fusion power is power generated by Nuclear fusion reactions In this kind of reaction two light atomic nuclei fuse Many experts, however, dispute these claims as being far too optimistic by many orders of magnitude. They point out that in 2004; the annual production of antiprotons at CERN was several picograms at a cost of $20 million. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN This means to produce 1 gram of antimatter, CERN would need to spend 100 quadrillion dollars and run the antimatter factory for 100 billion years. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN Storage is another problem, as antiprotons are negatively charged and repel against each other, so that they cannot be concentrated in a small volume. Plasma oscillations in the charged cloud of antiprotons can cause instabilities that drive antiprotons out of the storage trap. Plasma oscillations, also known as " Langmuir waves " (after Irving Langmuir) are rapid oscillations of the electron density in conducting media such as For these reasons, to date only a few million antiprotons have been stored simultaneously in a magnetic trap, which corresponds to much less than a femtogram. Antihydrogen atoms or molecules are neutral so in principle they do not suffer the plasma problems of antiprotons described above. But cold antihydrogen is far more difficult to produce than antiprotons, and so far not a single antihydrogen atom has been trapped in a magnetic field.

Since the energy density is vastly higher than these other forms, the thrust to weight equation used in antimatter rocketry and spacecraft would be very different. An antimatter rocket is a proposed class of Rockets that use Antimatter as their power source A spacecraft is a Vehicle or machine designed for Spaceflight. In fact, the energy in a few grams of antimatter is enough to transport an unmanned spacecraft to Mars in a few minutes, the Mars Global Surveyor took eleven months to reach Mars. The Mars Global Surveyor ( MGS) was a US Spacecraft developed by NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and launched It is hoped that antimatter could be used as fuel for interplanetary travel or possibly interstellar travel, but it is also feared that, as a side-effect of antimatter propulsion, the design of antimatter weapons might become an equal reality. Fuel is any material that is burned or altered in order to obtain energy Interstellar space travel is unmanned or manned Travel between Stars The concept of interstellar travel in Starships is a staple in Science fiction An antimatter weapon is a hypothetical device using Antimatter as a power source a propellant or an explosive for a Weapon.

One researcher of the CERN laboratories, which produces antimatter on a regular basis, said:

“

If we could assemble all of the antimatter we've ever made at CERN and annihilate it with matter, we would have enough energy to light a single electric light bulb for a few minutes. The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation Européenne pour la Recherche Nucléaire known as CERN [11]

”

Until now, the use of anti-matter as a source of energy is mentioned more often in fiction, than in technological projects.

Antimatter in fiction

Existence of anti-particles is more "sci-" than "fiction" . ^[12] However, until now, the anti-world, or even macroscopic amounts of antimatter exist rather in jokes and sci-fi novels, than in laboratories. One of these novels being Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" in which the whole story centers around production of antimatter at the CERN facility and its possible use in terrorism because of the awesome power of an annihilation.

Pop culture

The 1960s hit television show The Man from U.N.C.L.E. dealt with the potential of antimatter in an episode called The Suburbia Affair. The Man from UNCLE is an American television series that was broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1964, to January Pianist and comedian Victor Borge played a pianist and scientist who had come up with a formula for antimatter and, fearing its destructive potential, hid in a bizarre suburban development populated by single adults and couples who hate children. Victor Borge (pronounced "BOR-guh" January 3 1909 &ndash December 23 2000) was a Danish-American humorist entertainer and pianist Borge's character, Dr. Rutter, disguised his formula in a dissonant piece of music until forced to reveal it to the evil organization, THRUSH (Technological Hierarchy for the Removal of Undesirables and Subjugation of Humanity). The good guys, Illya Kuryakin and Napoleon Solo, arrive to save the day and, after a plea from the wounded Rutter, destroy the computer where the antimatter formula has been stored. In another 20 years, Rutter warns, someone else will come up with the formula.

Military

Because of its potential to release immense amounts of energy in contact with normal matter, there has been interest in various weapon uses, potentially enabling miniature warheads of pinhead-size to be more destructive than modern-day nuclear weapons. An antimatter weapon is a hypothetical device using Antimatter as a power source a propellant or an explosive for a Weapon. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. An antimatter particle colliding with a matter particle releases 100% of the energy contained within the particles, while a hydrogen bomb only releases about 0. 7% of this energy. This gives a clue to how effective and powerful this force is. However, this development is still in early planning stages, though antimatter weapons are popular in science fiction such as in Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy , Dan Brown's Angels and Demons and Star Trek where the production of antimatter leads to the possibility of use as both a fuel and highly effective weapon. Peter F Hamilton (born 2 March 1960 is a British Science fiction Author. British author Peter F Hamilton 's The Night's Dawn Trilogy consists of three epic Science fiction novels The Reality Dysfunction Dan Brown (born June 22 1964 is an American Author of Thriller fiction, best known for the 2003 bestselling novel The Da Vinci Code Angels & Demons is a Bestselling mystery Novel by Dan Brown. Published in 2000 it introduces the character Robert Langdon At the moment, the traps are not very efficient, and it is more constructive to just create all the antimatter at the moment it would be used.

Stanisław Lem

In the novel The Cyberiad, Stanisław Lem describes the building up the antimatter in the following way:^[13]

• The machine, however, had already begun. Stanisław Lem ( sta'ɲiswaf lɛm 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006 was a Polish Science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer The Cyberiad (Cyberiada is a series of short stories by Stanisław Lem. Stanisław Lem ( sta'ɲiswaf lɛm 12 September 1921 – 27 March 2006 was a Polish Science fiction, philosophical and satirical writer First it manufactured antiprotons, then antielectrons, antineutrons, antineutrinos, and labored on, until from out of all this antimatter an antiworld took shape, . .

In another novel, The Invincible ,^[14] the researchers fail to fight the self-organizing microrobots, even though they use antimatter as a weapon. The Invincible (originally Niezwyciężony in Polish) is a Science fiction novel written by Stanisław Lem and published
In the novel Eden ,^[15] humans use the antimatter as weapon, but it does not help them to understand anything about the civilization they met. Eden is a 1959 Science fiction Novel by Stanisław Lem. It was first published in English in 1989 (ISBN 0-15-127580-7

Isaac Asimov

In stories by Isaac Asimov (1940s), mankind creates a new generation of robots with "positronic brains" as complex as those of humans. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian . ^[16]

See also

• Ambiplasma
• Particle accelerator
• Antiparticle
• antihydrogen

References

External links

• Links to top sites on AntiMatter
• Freeview Video 'Antimatter' by the Vega Science Trust and the BBC/OU
• CERN Webcasts (Realplayer required)
• What is Antimatter? (from the Frequently Asked Questions at the Center for Antimatter-Matter Studies)
• FAQ from CERN with lots of information about antimatter aimed at the general reader, posted in response to antimatter's fictional portrayal in Angels and Demons
• What is direct CP-violation?
• Animated illustration of antihydrogen production at CERN from the Exploratorium. Angels & Demons is a Bestselling mystery Novel by Dan Brown. Published in 2000 it introduces the character Robert Langdon The Exploratorium is a public science Museum, located in the Marina District at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco California
• Mystery of antimatter source solved - Maybe

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