LastOneStanding said:I'm assuming you mean "put inside a fullerene in such a way that it would stay there" (i.e. trap it). This isn't possible, which can be argued without even doing a quantum calculation: Earnshaw's theorem (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earnshaw's_theorem) says that it is impossible for a charged particle to be held in a stable equilibrium by any configuration of charges—there is always a "leak" somewhere. The electric field of a neutral atom is naturally very weak (effectively zero over distances larger than the typical scale of molecular bonds), so for a best case scenario, imagine you replaced each carbon in the fullerene with a negatively charged particle. In this case, negative charges will be able to leak out through the center of each icosahedron face. So, if the antiproton were slightly displaced from the center (as its own thermal movements would do) it would be carried out by the electric field. Griffiths has a similar exercise for a charge inside a cube of point charges (ex. 3.2) which might be instructive for seeing how this works. So if you can't trap a classical negative charge with an icosahedral distribution of negative charges, you certainly won't be able to do it with neutral atoms whose electric field is much weaker—and if you can't do it for a classical negative charge, you certainly can't do it for a particle obeying quantum mechanics, where quantum tunneling allows even classically trapped particles to escape under the right circumstances.
mfb said:Even worse: The antiproton would not have to leave the cage - once it sees the electric field of a nucleus (at a radius comparable to the electron wave functions), it gets attracted by it and the antiproton can annihilate with a nucleon there.
There are some ways to avoid Earnshaw's theorem, but I think you need neutral antihydrogen for those.
The important result of Earnshaw: Geometry does not matter. You cannot store a charged particle with electric fields. You can store diamagnetic materials and moving (spinning) ferromagnets, but an antiproton is neither.vemvare said:What would happen if one instead tried to keep a charged particle between two charged plates, or in a torus?
Neutral antihydrogen is attracted my minima of the magnetic field strength, and those are possible. This is done at the ALPHA experiment at CERN.How? Are there any other theoretical concepts for storing antimatter? The Brillouin limit is brutalizing my sci-fi fantasies.
An antiproton is a subatomic particle that has the same mass as a proton, but with an opposite charge. It is classified as an antiparticle, meaning it has the same properties as its corresponding particle, but with opposite charges.
A fullerene is a molecule composed entirely of carbon atoms arranged in a unique structure. The most common type of fullerene is buckminsterfullerene, also known as a buckyball, which has a spherical shape made up of 60 carbon atoms.
An antiproton can be trapped inside a fullerene by using electric and magnetic fields to contain it within the carbon structure. This technique is called antiproton confinement, and it allows for the study of the properties and behavior of antiprotons in a controlled environment.
The trapping of an antiproton inside a fullerene has significant implications for research in the fields of physics and chemistry. It allows for the study of antimatter and its interactions with matter, as well as potential applications in fields such as energy production and medicine.
An antiproton inside a fullerene is a key component in antimatter research, as it allows scientists to study the properties and behaviors of antimatter in a controlled environment. This research is important in understanding the fundamental nature of the universe and has potential applications in various fields of science and technology.