When you hear the word antimatter, it sounds like something out of a movie. However, it's entirely real, and we even emit it ourselves. Antimatter has become very important to science because it helps us understand numerous aspects of the universe, its formation, and evolution. Furthermore, it explains many phenomena that occur in reality.
Do you want to know what antimatter is and why is it so important? Here we explain everything to you.
What is antimatter
Antimatter arises from one of those enormous equations whose language only great physicists and mathematicians can decipher. These equations seem like something's amiss, and it's normal to think that after so many equations, some error is to be expected. However, this is absolutely true, and antimatter is real.
It is a substance composed of what are known as antiparticles. These particles are identical to the ones we know but with the opposite electrical charge. For example, the antiparticle of an electron, which has a negative charge, is a positron . It is an identical element with the same composition, but with a positive charge. It's that simple, and anyone trying to make it more complicated is mistaken.
These particle and antiparticle substances go into pairs. When the two collide, they annihilate each other and disappear completely. Under the result of this collision, a flash of light is formed. Particles that do not have charges, such as neutrinos, are themselves thought to be their own antiparticle.
Some theories refer to these particles as Majorana particles, suggesting that dark matter particles could also be Majorana particles— that is, they are both their antiparticle and their particle. For a more in-depth look at this topic, you can consult the Big Bang theory, which is also related.
Dirac's equation
As we've discussed, antimatter arises from mathematical studies and complex physical equations. The physicist Paul Dirac studied all of this in the 1930s. He was attempting to unify the two most important physical currents into one: special relativity and quantum mechanics. Combining these two currents into a single theoretical framework could greatly aid our understanding of the universe. This concept is related to the Big Bang theory and how matter originates.
Today we know this as the Dirac equation. It's a fairly simple equation, but at the time it baffled all scientists. The equation predicted something that seems impossible: particles with negative energy. The Dirac equations stated that particles could have less energy than their rest energy. That is, they could have less energy than they have when they are doing absolutely nothing . This statement was more difficult for physicists to understand. How can you have less energy than you have when you're not doing anything, if you're no longer doing anything on your own?
From this, it was deduced that particles possessed negative energy. This led to the realization that there exists a vast number of particles with negative energy, particles previously undiscovered by physics. When a normal particle jumps from a lower energy level to a higher one, it leaves a gap in the lower energy level from which it originated. Now, if the particle has a negative charge, this gap can contain a negative charge, or, equivalently, a positive charge—a positron. This is how the concept of an antiparticle was born.
Where is antimatter found?
The first antimatter particles detected were those originating from cosmic rays, using a cloud chamber. These chambers detect particles by emitting a gas that becomes ionized as particles pass through, allowing their trajectories to be determined. Scientist Carl D. Anderson was able to use a magnetic field to bend the trajectory of a particle passing through the chamber, thus causing its electric charge to curve. This caused the particle to move in one direction and its antiparticle in another.
Antiprotons and antineutrons were later discovered, and since then, more and more discoveries have been made. Antimatter is becoming increasingly well-known. Our planet is constantly bombarded with antiparticles that are part of cosmic rays. What is closest to us is what affects us.
We can say that we ourselves emit antimatter due to the composition of our bodies. For example, if we eat a banana, due to the decay of potassium-40, a positron will form every 75 minutes . This means that if we find potassium-40 in our bodies, we ourselves are a source of antiparticles.
What is it for
You might be wondering what the point is of knowing about antimatter. Well, thanks to it, we have many advancements in the field of medicine. For example, it's widely used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. These particles are used to produce high-resolution images of the human body. These images are very useful in examinations to determine if we have a tumor that is spreading or its stage of development. The use of antiprotons for cancer treatment is also being studied, which is related to the Kardashev scale and technological advancements in medicine.
In the future, antimatter could serve as a promising element in energy production. When matter and antimatter annihilate, they release a significant amount of energy in the form of light. Just one gram of antimatter would release energy equivalent to a nuclear bomb. This is truly astounding.
The problem today with harnessing antimatter for energy is its storage. It's something we're very far from solving. Each gram of antimatter would require approximately 25.000 quadrillion kilowatt-hours of energy.
It also serves to explain why we exist. Initially, according to the Big Bang theory, the origins of both matter and antimatter must have occurred through a pattern of total symmetry. If this were the case, we would have disappeared by now. Therefore, there must be at least one more particle of matter for every antimatter.
I hope this information has clarified your doubts about antimatter.