Anti-matter vs matter at creation.

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the creation of matter and antimatter, particularly in the context of the Big Bang and the observed abundance of matter over antimatter. Participants explore the processes involved in creating antimatter, the theoretical implications of reversing these processes, and the nature of matter and antimatter itself.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that during the Big Bang, matter was in greater supply than antimatter, but the reason for this is unknown.
  • One participant questions the concept of "making antimatter into matter," asserting that one cannot simply transform one into the other.
  • Another participant explains that antimatter is not created from ordinary matter but can be produced through specific processes like nuclear decay and particle collisions.
  • A participant suggests considering how matter would be collected if the universe were composed of antimatter, raising questions about symmetry in an "anti-universe."
  • Some participants mention that every time antimatter is created in colliders, an equal amount of normal matter is produced, emphasizing the conservation of energy and particle interactions.
  • There is a discussion about the arbitrary nature of labeling particles as matter or antimatter, with some arguing that both could be considered types of matter due to their similar properties.
  • Others challenge this view, asserting that matter and antimatter are distinct despite their similarities, and express confusion over the terminology used in the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express multiple competing views regarding the nature of matter and antimatter, the processes of their creation, and the implications of their abundance. There is no consensus on the definitions or the conceptual framing of the discussion.

Contextual Notes

Participants highlight the complexity of the topic, including unresolved questions about the processes of creation and the implications of symmetry violations in particle physics.

hakon
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During the creation of the universe, aka the big bang, it is recognised that matter was in a greater supply then anti-matter.

The reason for this is unknown.

So we are able to create anti-matter at great expense, have we ever tried to make anti-matter into matter?

Because if the method is different to that required to make anti-matter, could that not solve the question of why matter is abundant?

would love to hear from anyone with experience on the process required to make anti-matter.
 
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I have no idea what you mean by "make anti-matter into matter". You cannot make one into the other.
 
hakon: I don't know what you think, but antimatter is not "created" from ordinary matter. In the same way, one can not "create" or "transform" antimatter into matter or vice versa. Positrons can be collected from nuclear decays. Antiprotons come from accelerator rings.

See this article for example (go down to "How to make anti-atoms"): http://physics.berkeley.edu/index.p...nagement&act=news&Itemid=419&task=view&id=203

A more technical description of creation and analysis of antimatter: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v419/n6906/full/nature01096.html
 
let me rephrase.

How would we be collecting matter, if the universe and we were made up of anti-matter.

i get you use radiation for the positrons, and accelerator rings for anti-protons, but can it be done the same way in an anti-universe?
 
Should be the same but since we don't know why it's the way it is, we can't state so with certainty.
 
just thought maybe scientists trying to solve this problem might benifit from thinking about it in reverse
 
Did you know that every single time we have created anti-matter through collisions in colliders, we create exactly the same amount of normal matter?
 
Drakkith said:
Did you know that every single time we have created anti-matter through collisions in colliders, we create exactly the same amount of normal matter?

yes but we start with particles which originate from matter.
 
I'm sure you could have anti-proton anti-proton collisions that produced protons and anti-protons, provided everything that needs to be conserved is conserved.
 
  • #10
hakon said:
yes but we start with particles which originate from matter.

Yes, but we aren't creating the antimatter from those two particles. We are creating it from the energy of their collision. Depending on the collision energy you can create LOTS of particles, or only a few from two simple protons.

But I think the argument is just semantics.

I'm sure you could have anti-proton anti-proton collisions that produced protons and anti-protons, provided everything that needs to be conserved is conserved.

You are basically correct.
 
  • #11
I think there is something you are not considering. We might be made of anti-matter, and anti-matter is matter. It's completely arbitrary which one is which, they are just opposites. Since we have to a give one of them the name matter, and the other anti-matter, we might as well give the one that we are all made up of matter. It's like deciding on what numbers to call even and which ones to call odd (probably not the best analogy).

They are just mirror opposites of each other. The reason there is a much greater abundance of matter over anti-matter might have something to do with certain symmetry violations in the Weak Interactions (e.g. CP violation).
 
  • #12
silmaril89 said:
I think there is something you are not considering. We might be made of anti-matter, and anti-matter is matter. It's completely arbitrary which one is which, they are just opposites. Since we have to a give one of them the name matter, and the other anti-matter, we might as well give the one that we are all made up of matter. It's like deciding on what numbers to call even and which ones to call odd (probably not the best analogy).

They are just mirror opposites of each other. The reason there is a much greater abundance of matter over anti-matter might have something to do with certain symmetry violations in the Weak Interactions (e.g. CP violation).

Of course. Anti-matter and matter could both be considered Matter, and we could simply say that two particles of the same mass but opposite charges will annihilate each other. We choose to call antimatter that because we live in a matter dominated universe.
 
  • #13
Drakkith said:
Of course. Anti-matter and matter could both be considered Matter,

No, they aren't both matter. But yea, if my response was so obvious to you, I don't understand where your confusion on matter and anti-matter comes from.
 
  • #14
silmaril89 said:
No, they aren't both matter. But yea, if my response was so obvious to you, I don't understand where your confusion on matter and anti-matter comes from.

I don't think you understand what I meant by that. Matter and Antimatter have almost the exact same properties. Same masses, spins, etc. The charges on each similar particle is opposite, but that is all. They are definitely not opposites. You could consider antimatter as just another type of matter, however we do not.
 
  • #15
You can think of it however you want, it's arbitrary.
 
  • #16
silmaril89 said:
You can think of it however you want, it's arbitrary.

I think we are both saying the same thing.
 

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