| Themes > Science > Physics > Elementary particle physics > An Introduction to Particle Physics > An Introduction to Particle Physics > Antimatter |
Antimatter is very much like ordinary matter, but it carries the oppositecharge. An anti-electron (a positively charged electron) is just another way ofdescribing a positron.Crashing matter and antimatter together is now a dailyoccurence in machines like LEP. The fact that the universe seems to be full ofmatter and not antimatter is one of the most baffling problems in modernphysics. At the time of the Big Bang, matter and antimatter are believed tohave been produced in equal quantities. What seems to have happened is that, ata somewhat later time, collisions between the two types have destroyed all theantimatter but left a little of the matter behind, from which our universe ismade. The reason may be due to a tiny asymmetry in the way particles of matter andantimatter decay, thereby creating an excess of matter. |
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