Greetings and antimatter question

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the interactions between matter and antimatter, specifically focusing on the conditions required for annihilation. Participants explore various scenarios involving antiprotons and antihydrogen interacting with normal matter, including gaseous helium and other materials.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the conditions necessary for particle-antiparticle annihilation, specifically asking if an antiproton can annihilate with a proton in a helium nucleus.
  • Another participant asserts that an antiproton will be attracted to the nucleus through electromagnetism and the strong force, leading to annihilation upon encountering a proton.
  • The initial poster questions whether antihydrogen can annihilate with hydrogen or other normal matter atoms, to which a participant responds affirmatively for both cases.
  • A later contribution discusses the challenges physicists face in containing antimatter, mentioning the use of magnetic bottles and ionized protons to prevent annihilation with normal matter.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There appears to be some agreement on the basic conditions for annihilation, but the discussion includes varying perspectives on specific scenarios and the practical challenges of handling antimatter.

Contextual Notes

The discussion does not resolve the complexities of annihilation conditions in different materials or the implications of practical containment methods for antimatter.

Who May Find This Useful

Individuals interested in particle physics, antimatter research, and the practical challenges of experimental physics may find this discussion relevant.

alexbib
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Greetings everyone, I'm new to these forums and would first like to salute all of you.

Also, I've got a few little questions about matter/antimatter interaction and was wandering if anybody could help me out.

What are the conditions that must be met for a particle and an antiparticle to annihilate?

Say I shoot an antiproton into gazeous helium, would it be able to annihilate with a proton that is bound in an He nucleous? What if you make it collide with dense, solid material?

Also, could an antihydrogen atom annihilate directly with an hydrogen atom? What about with a normal matter atom of another kind (Cu for example)?

Alex
 
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Originally posted by alexbib
Greetings everyone, I'm new to these forums and would first like to salute all of you.
Welcome!
What are the conditions that must be met for a particle and an antiparticle to annihilate?
They must collide.
Say I shoot an antiproton into gazeous helium, would it be able to annihilate with a proton that is bound in an He nucleous? What if you make it collide with dense, solid material?
Yes, it will be attracted to the nucleus both via electromagnetism and via the strong force, and will annihiliate with the first proton encountered.
Also, could an antihydrogen atom annihilate directly with an hydrogen atom? What about with a normal matter atom of another kind (Cu for example)?
Yes, in both cases.

- Warren
 
Ok, thanks for answers mate!
 
Back in the Renaissance alchemists were searching for the universal solvent, a substance that would dissolve everything. Practical minded folks asked them "What would you keep it in?"

Physicists who make antimatter have this problem too. How can they prevent their precious and expensive antiprotons from contacting some normal matter and annihilating? They use magnetic bottles and keep the protons in ionized (charged) form so they can be confined by the magnetism. I think there are maybe a few ounces of antiprotons saved in labs over all the earth.
 

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