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So, what is antimatter?

Thiez 3y ago
Some particles, such as protons and electrons, have an 'anti' version. When a particle meets its anti-version they annihilate, releasing energy in accordance to their mass (with the famous E=mc^2 formula). It's still a bit of a mystery why there was more matter than antimatter when the universe began.
- pyinstallwoes 3y ago
  It’s physically measured by an instrument?
  - tsimionescu 3y ago
    Yes - you can measure the mass and electrical effect of a positron just like you can measure the mass and electrical effects of an electron (a positron is perfectly equivalent to an electron in all known ways except that it has positive charge instead of negative charge, so it would be repelled away by an atomic nucleus, and it would be attracted by an electron).
    - pyinstallwoes 3y ago
      So there’s an anti positron that has been measured to exist? Where do “anti” things exist? It seems closer to phase cancellation than an anti-thing. Like two sine waves out of phase.
      - Thiez 3y ago
        The anti positron is literally the common electron. If you want to learn more about the subject I would recommend wikipedia, it has a lot of information about quantum mechanics.
      - tsimionescu 3y ago
        Each charged particle in the standard model has a corresponding anti-particle that is (as far as we know) identical to it in all ways except the sign of the charge. The electron has the anti-electron, also called the positron. Each kind of quark has a corresponding anti-quark, and these can form an anti-Proton. There are muons and anti-muons, tau and anti-tau, the plus and minus W bosons are each other's anti-particle. There is nothing mysterious about anti-particles, they have all been observed directly, and they simply have the opposite electrical charge. The one thing we don't understand is why there seems to be so little antimatter in the universe, despite antimatter behaving identically to matter as long as the two don't meet. This could just be a fluke of the matter distribution in the early universe, but it could also indicate that there is a difference we don't know about.
        pyinstallwoes 3y ago
        Is it not exactly like phase cancellation in audio engineering?
        tsimionescu 3y ago
        No, it is not. For the most obvious difference, if you apply two waves to the same chord with the same phase but opposite frequency, the result is a chord which doesn't move (destructive interference). If you collide an electron and a positron, the result is an explosion with the maximum possible energy for their mass (mc²). Also, you can actually do the phase cancelation experiment with two electrons, as they can behave as waves, and you will get the same cancelation as you do with audio waves - except the net electrical field will be 0 instead of the string not moving.
        pyinstallwoes 3y ago
        It just gets a little, well, weird in ways beyond rationality. For instance: The electron has never been directly observed or measured. Its makeup is inferred. So what is physics? The measurement of consistent imagination?
        tsimionescu 3y ago
tiborsaas 3y ago
Check page 6
fortyseven 3y ago
Not anti-much, how about you?

Some particles, such as protons and electrons, have an 'anti' version. When a particle meets its anti-version they annihilate, releasing energy in accordance to their mass (with the famous E=mc^2 formula). It's still a bit of a mystery why there was more matter than antimatter when the universe began.

pyinstallwoes 3y ago
It’s physically measured by an instrument?
- tsimionescu 3y ago
  Yes - you can measure the mass and electrical effect of a positron just like you can measure the mass and electrical effects of an electron (a positron is perfectly equivalent to an electron in all known ways except that it has positive charge instead of negative charge, so it would be repelled away by an atomic nucleus, and it would be attracted by an electron).
  - pyinstallwoes 3y ago
    So there’s an anti positron that has been measured to exist? Where do “anti” things exist? It seems closer to phase cancellation than an anti-thing. Like two sine waves out of phase.
    - Thiez 3y ago
      The anti positron is literally the common electron. If you want to learn more about the subject I would recommend wikipedia, it has a lot of information about quantum mechanics.
    - tsimionescu 3y ago
      Each charged particle in the standard model has a corresponding anti-particle that is (as far as we know) identical to it in all ways except the sign of the charge. The electron has the anti-electron, also called the positron. Each kind of quark has a corresponding anti-quark, and these can form an anti-Proton. There are muons and anti-muons, tau and anti-tau, the plus and minus W bosons are each other's anti-particle. There is nothing mysterious about anti-particles, they have all been observed directly, and they simply have the opposite electrical charge. The one thing we don't understand is why there seems to be so little antimatter in the universe, despite antimatter behaving identically to matter as long as the two don't meet. This could just be a fluke of the matter distribution in the early universe, but it could also indicate that there is a difference we don't know about.
      - pyinstallwoes 3y ago
        Is it not exactly like phase cancellation in audio engineering?
        tsimionescu 3y ago
        No, it is not. For the most obvious difference, if you apply two waves to the same chord with the same phase but opposite frequency, the result is a chord which doesn't move (destructive interference). If you collide an electron and a positron, the result is an explosion with the maximum possible energy for their mass (mc²). Also, you can actually do the phase cancelation experiment with two electrons, as they can behave as waves, and you will get the same cancelation as you do with audio waves - except the net electrical field will be 0 instead of the string not moving.
      - pyinstallwoes 3y ago
        It just gets a little, well, weird in ways beyond rationality. For instance: The electron has never been directly observed or measured. Its makeup is inferred. So what is physics? The measurement of consistent imagination?
        tsimionescu 3y ago

tiborsaas 3y ago

Check page 6

fortyseven 3y ago

Not anti-much, how about you?