Matter - Antimatter interactions

[Eryndel]

Just curious.

I know that antiproton will annihilate with a proton, but is that the only baryon which will react with a proton in such a way. Specifically, do the specific constituent quarks annihilate with their antimatter counterpart or do they only annihilate in the proper 2 and 3 quark combination. For example, if you brought an anti-Sigma(+) {uus} in contact with a proton {uud} will the u - u combinations annihilate and leave a neutral kaon {ds} and a couple gammas?

Or does confinement prevent such a thing from happening?

Thanks.

 

[Meir Achuz]

Just curious.

Specifically, do the specific constituent quarks annihilate with their antimatter counterpart or do they only annihilate in the proper 2 and 3 quark combination. For example, if you brought an anti-Sigma(+) {uus} in contact with a proton {uud} will the u - u combinations annihilate and leave a neutral kaon {ds} and a couple gammas?

Or does confinement prevent such a thing from happening?
(NO)
Thanks.

Yes, the antiSigma and the proton would annihilate into a k and several pions. The general rule is that anything that can happen, will happen.

 

[sir-pinski]

The interaction between matter and antimatter is a fascinating topic in physics. When a particle of matter meets its corresponding antiparticle, they both annihilate each other and release a large amount of energy in the form of gamma rays. This process is called matter-antimatter annihilation.

To answer your question, it is not just protons and antiprotons that can undergo annihilation. Any baryon (a particle made up of three quarks) can interact with its corresponding antiparticle in this way. This means that a proton could also annihilate with an antineutron, or a neutron with an antiproton.

As for the specific quark combinations, it is not just the individual quarks that undergo annihilation. The entire baryon-antibaryon pair annihilates together, releasing the energy stored in their mass. This means that in your example, if an anti-Sigma(+) (uus) were to interact with a proton (uud), the entire baryon-antibaryon pair would annihilate, not just the individual quarks.

Confinement does play a role in these interactions. Quarks are always confined within particles and cannot exist as individual particles. This means that even if a quark and its corresponding antiquark were to come into contact, they would not be able to annihilate because they are still confined within their respective particles.

I hope this helps to answer your question. The study of matter-antimatter interactions is still an active area of research, and there is still much to learn about this fascinating phenomenon.