Antimatter, ain't Matter

"Everything around you is matter."

"Matter is defined as anything which has mass and takes up space"

            Remember we used to learn this definition of 'matter', word for word from our science textbooks? Well, who knew that this definition would prove to be wrong with the very existence of the smallest of the particles discovered in 1932.

            Actually, in 1930 Paul Dirac formulated a quantum theory for the motion of electrons in both electric and magnetic fields, which became the first theory that perfectly included Einstein's theory of special relativity in this context. The resulting equations of this theory predicted or in fact, required the presence of another particle with the same mass as an electron but with the opposite charge to balance out the equation."Dirac interpreted the equation to mean that for every particle there exists a corresponding antiparticle, exactly matching the particle but with the opposite charge", says CERN. This theory thus indicated the presence of some anti-particles for their matter counterparts. 

Soon in 1931-32, Carl D. Anderson confirmed the remarkable prediction of Dirac's theory when he captured a cloud chamber picture that showed a particle that had the same mass as electrons but had a positive charge. This anti-electron was named as 'Positron'.
            After this fantastic discovery, the term 'Antimatter' was coined and researches began. Antimatter is defined as something which is composed of antiparticles of their particle counterparts in the 'ordinary' matter. Antimatter possesses exactly the opposite properties of matter, but has mass and takes up space. So, as I mentioned earlier, not everything around you that takes up space and has mass is matter. It could be antimatter too!
            Antimatter has some interesting properties. One such property is that, when antimatter and matter meet, they annihilate leaving behind nothing but energy. This property has grabbed a great deal of attention considering the energy crisis in the world lately.

“There could be whole antiworlds and antipeople made out of antiparticles. However, if you meet your antiself, don’t shake hands! You would both vanish in a great flash of light.”
― Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time

            If whatever you read till now has fascinated you, then get ready to blow your minds with some crazy facts about Antimatter.

      1. How powerful is Antimatter?   

            Matter-antimatter annihilation has the potential to release an enormous amount of energy. In fact, just a gram of antimatter can produce an explosion as huge as the warhead dropped on Hiroshima or can be used to power a spacecraft all the way to Mars.

Let's say, if we were to ever produce a very powerful 'Antimatter weaponry', it would possess the capacity to destroy the Earth.

      2. Antimatter and The Big Bang Theory

            According to a theory, Antimatter and matter were originated in equal amounts after the 'Big Bang'. It is fairly cryptic to the scientists that we do not find Antimatter as ordinarily as we find matter in the universe while as a matter of fact, after the 'Big Bang' all the resultant matter and antimatter should have annihilated, omitting behind only the purest form of energy. 

            Physicists suppose the reason behind this remains that there was one extra matter particle for every thousand matter-antimatter pairs. These physicists are fighting tooth and nail to explain the enigma of this asymmetry.

      3. Can we produce Antimatter?

            Acknowledging its annihilation properties with the matter, it is rather difficult to produce and securely store even a gram of antimatter. Believe it or not, in order to make 1 gram of antimatter, one would require billions of kilowatt-hours of energy which would cost over millions and billions of dollars together. 

            Bearing in mind all the impediments, humans were still able to create a midget amount of antimatter. Some of the institutes contributing to this cause are CERN, Fermilab, and DESY. The amount of antimatter in possession of all these institutes combined, would not even be enough to boil a cup of tea. But I believe this is just the beginning.

      4. Antimatter is closer than you think

            We know there is antimatter but we think it is somewhere out there or being produced in some research institutes. That is where we are mistaken. Did you know that a banana can produce 1 Positron (antimatter equivalent of an electron) every 75 minutes? Banana consists of Potassium-40 which is a naturally occurring isotope of Potassium and when it decays, it splits out a Positron once in a while. Meanwhile, scientists have also found shreds of evidence of the production of Antimatter above thunderstorms.

      5. Can Antimatter replace the traditional energy sources?

            Antimatter is proposed as a possible source of fuel in the future. If Antimatter was discovered so far back in the past and we know how powerful its annihilation with matter can get, then why are we still not being able to use it to solve the 'energy-crunch'? 

            Well, that is because there are energy and financial constraints tied to it. We cannot find antimatter just about anywhere around us. We need to produce antimatter which is a costly and time-consuming process. With the current technology in place, it would take years to just produce one gram of Antimatter and at least as much energy as we'd get back. The problem does not end here. Storing Antimatter is not a piece of cake either. It is risky and a difficult process. So as to store Antimatter, we have to keep in mind it's annihilation characteristics or it is clear how dangerous a matter-antimatter blast can get. Perhaps the world is better off with a little antimatter safely stored.

      6. Antimatter towards a 'Bright Future'

               Researchers and scientists are very optimistic about how antimatter would be beneficial. Many believe that antimatter could be used as a power source to achieve faster-than-light travel or 'Warp Drive' just like Star Trek’s starship Enterprise uses matter-antimatter annihilation propulsion for faster-than-light travel. Researches are actually being conducted on this.             

        

            Many believe that Antimatter could be valuable in medical diagnosis, where positrons can be used to identify several diseases like in Positron Emission Tomography. It is also believed that Antimatter can be used to diagnose cancer and treat it using a technique similar to ion therapy.
            Apart from that, Antimatter can find use in propulsion technology, to apply direct thrust, energize a propellant, or heat a solid core.

            Too bad that the current technology does not support the mass production of Antimatter or collect them in the volumes needed for such applications. Antimatter presently takes high energy costs and too long to produce. But if this is made possible sometime soon, the possibilities are profound. One can definitely imagine Antimatter saving the day a few decades from now.