Antimatter excotic particle or another reality?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of antimatter, specifically whether it is merely another form of matter or if it represents a distinct reality. Participants explore concepts related to the properties of antimatter, its interactions with matter, and the implications for gravitational behavior.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants propose that antimatter is another form of matter, with positrons being a common example, and argue it is not more exotic than ordinary matter.
  • Others question whether matter attracts antimatter via gravity, noting a lack of experimental evidence for this claim.
  • Current theory suggests that antimatter experiences gravity similarly to ordinary matter, but challenges exist in conducting experiments due to the short lifespan of antiparticles when interacting with ordinary matter.
  • It is noted that antihydrogen has been produced at CERN since 2002, consisting of antiprotons and positrons, but no measurements of gravitational effects have been made yet.
  • One participant highlights the difficulty in testing the weak equivalence principle due to the dominance of electrical charges over gravitational effects, suggesting that producing cold, neutral antihydrogen could help mitigate these issues for future tests.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of antimatter and its gravitational interactions, indicating that multiple competing perspectives remain without a clear consensus.

Contextual Notes

Challenges in experimental setups due to the short lifespan of antiparticles and the influence of electrical charges on gravitational measurements are noted as limitations in the discussion.

chis
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Antimatter excotic particle or another reality?
Is it a mirror of matter or just another form of matter?
 
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chis said:
Antimatter excotic particle or another reality?
Is it a mirror of matter or just another form of matter?
It is another form of matter and is no more exotic than ordinary matter. The most common form consists of positrons. There isn't much around, since contact of an antimatter particle with its matter counterpart results in mutual destruction, ending up as gamma rays.
 
Is it known if matter attracts antimatter( and vice versa ) via gravity? From what I could find googling it, there was no actual experimental evidence of this.
 
Raap said:
Is it known if matter attracts antimatter( and vice versa ) via gravity? From what I could find googling it, there was no actual experimental evidence of this.

Current theory has antimatter experiencing gravity like ordinary matter (or dark matter). It is hard to set up an experiment, since the life of antiparticles is short (hitting ordinary matter).
 
chis said:
Antimatter excotic particle or another reality?
Is it a mirror of matter or just another form of matter?
Antimatter, in the form of antihydrogen, has been made at CERN since about 2002. It is in the form of antiprotons and positrons. No gravity/antigravity measurements have been made yet, but that is one of the oblectives of the AEGIS experiment. See
http://www.webalice.it/datrezzi/aegis.htm
 
Bob S said:
Antimatter, in the form of antihydrogen, has been made at CERN since about 2002. It is in the form of antiprotons and positrons. No gravity/antigravity measurements have been made yet, but that is one of the oblectives of the AEGIS experiment. See
http://www.webalice.it/datrezzi/aegis.htm
One BIG problem with testing the weak equivalence principle is that gravity is incredibly weak and electrical charges can swamp any gravitational effects. At CERN, they intend to produce cold, neutral antihydrogen to minimize noise from charge effects so gravitational equivalence can be tested. That's a big test.
 

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