Gravitation and Antimatter: Does it Matter?

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    Antimatter Matter
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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the gravitational behavior of antimatter in comparison to matter, specifically whether Newton's law of gravitation applies to antimatter and how it interacts with matter. The scope includes theoretical considerations and speculative ideas regarding the nature of mass in antimatter.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions whether Newton's law of gravitation applies to antimatter and its interactions with matter.
  • Another participant asserts that antimatter has mass in the same way that matter does.
  • It is proposed that both antimatter and matter are attracted to each other by gravity, with antimatter having positive mass.
  • A participant expresses confusion regarding the concept of negative mass in relation to antimatter, suggesting they may have misunderstood recent research.
  • There is a suggestion that the gravitational attraction between antimatter and matter could be stronger than that between two masses of matter at the same distance.
  • One participant emphasizes that the question of antimatter's gravitational behavior has not been experimentally tested, noting ongoing research aimed at measuring how antimatter falls in a gravitational field.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree that antimatter has mass and interacts with matter through gravitational attraction, but there is uncertainty regarding the implications of negative mass and the need for experimental verification of these ideas.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes unresolved questions about the nature of mass in antimatter and the lack of experimental evidence to confirm theoretical expectations regarding its gravitational behavior.

The legend
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According to Newtons law of gravitation
when 2 masses are separated by distance d ,,, then the gravitational force acting on them is
F = Gm1m2/d2

Does this apply to antimatter and antimatter (negative mass and negative mass)??

And also does it apply to matter and antimatter (mass and negative mass)?

(I actually am very very new to this concept of antimatter ... so if I m wrong somewhere please do point out so that I can improve!)

Thanks for your help!
 
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No, antimatter has mass in the same way that matter does.
 
Antimatter and matter are attracted together both by gravity and magnetism. Dealing with gravity antimatter has mass and matter has mass. Antimatter has an opposite spin causing opposite charge, but it still has mass. Same for matter. The point is antimatter has a positive mass. How can you have a negative mass? A mass of 0 would not have mass. Negative mass? How can that be?
 
Got it ... I just heard about this negative mass research going on somewhere related to antimatter... maybe I heard wrong!
So the overall attraction between antimatter and matter will be more than tat between matter and matter separated at the same distance.
Right?
 
The legend said:
So the overall attraction between antimatter and matter will be more than tat between matter and matter separated at the same distance.
Right?
When you say attraction are you talking about gravity , The attraction between a proton
and an anti-proton would be the same as the G attraction between two protons ,
And like the anti-particle of the electron is the positron , it has the same weight as the electron but opposite in charge .
 
I agree with everything that is said here, but I want to point out that this question has not yet been experimentally tested. While most physicists believe on theoretical grounds that antimatter will react in a gravitational field the same way as matter, it would be nice to have an experimental test. People are actively working on cooling antimatter to the point where the rate at which it falls in the Earth's gravity field can be measured, to verify that it falls at the same rate as matter. With the recent hints that neutrinos and anti-neutrinos have different oscillation rates, and the poor understanding of what led to the matter/antimatter asymmetry in the current universe, it looks like there are things here that we don't yet fully understand.
 

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