2. Antimatter or contra-terrene matter is
matter that is composed of the antiparticles
of those that constitute normal matter. If a
particle and its antiparticle come in contact
with each other, the two annihilate and
produce a burst of energy, which results in
the production of other particles and
antiparticles or electromagnetic radiation.
In these reactions, rest mass is not
conserved, although (as in any other
reaction) energy is conserved
3. In 1928 Paul Dirac developed a relativistic
equation for the electron, now known as the
Dirac equation. Curiously, the equation was
found to have negative energy solutions in
addition to the normal positive ones. This
presented a problem, As a way of getting
around this, Dirac proposed that the
vacuum can be considered a "sea" of
negative energy, the Dirac sea. Any
electrons would therefore have to sit on top
of the sea.
4. Thinking further, Dirac found that a "hole"
in the sea would have a positive charge.
At first he thought that this was the
proton, but Hermann Weyl pointed out
the hole should have the same mass as
the electron. The existence of this
particle, the positron, was confirmed
experimentally in 1932 by Carl D.
Anderson.
5. Today's standard model shows that
every particle has an antiparticle. The
positron has the opposite charge but the
same mass as the electron. An atom of
anti-hydrogen is composed of a
negatively-charged antiproton being
orbited by a positively-charged positron.
6. Particles of most
atoms are
accelerated to very
high speeds
The particles are
aimed and allowed to
impact on a target
(tungsten)
The kinetic energy
caused by
acceleration is
converted into gamma
radiation, positrons
and antiprotons (4)
7. Antimatter is the most expensive
substance on earth (6)
62.5 trillion U.S. dollars per gram a
year (6)
8. Antiprotons can be
controlled in magnetic
fields (4)
One method for antiproton
storage is the Penning
Trap
Super cold, vacuumed,
electromagnetic bottle in
which charged particles of
antimatter can be
suspended (4)
Capacity = 1 x 1010
antiprotons/week (4)
Developers believe that 1
x 1020 antiprotons must be
stored
9. Matter comes in contact with antimatter
They annihilate each other
This annihilation creates very large
amounts of energy
Energy Produced = 9 x 1016 J/Kg (4)
This energy has the highest energy
density of all known propellants
Ten billion times more energy then
hydrogen/oxygen (4)
300 times the fusion reaction at suns
core
10. Scientists and Physicists
want to harness this
created energy
Proton-Antiproton reaction
can be controlled by
magnetism
Beam Core - Direct one to
one annihilation, magnetic
fields focus the energetic
charged pions that are
used directly as the
exhausted propellant mass.
These pions travel close
to speed of light so the
specific impulse could be
greater than 10,000,000
seconds
11. Dirac himself was the first to consider the
existence of antimatter in an
astronomical scale. But it was only after
the confirmation of his theory, with the
discovery of the positron, antiproton and
antineutron that real speculation began
on the possible existence of an anti-
universe.
12. It was found that a particular heavy
unstable particle, which is its own
antiparticle, decays slightly more often
to positrons (e+) than to electrons (e-).
How this accounts for the
preponderance of matter over
antimatter has not been completely
explained.
13. After Dirac, the sci-fi writers had a field
day with visions of anti-worlds, anti-stars
and anti-universes, all made of
antimatter, and it is still a common plot
device, however suppositions of the
existence a coeval, antimatter duplicate
of this universe are not taken seriously in
modern cosmology
14.
15. 8/4/2015 15
Antiproton Cancer Therapy
As in the case of proton cancer
therapy, a 250 MeV antiproton
beam is needed.
Because of the feature of PET isotope
generation, it is proposed to treat
patients positioned inside a PET
scanner.
Hypothesis: For a 10cc tumor,
approximately 1010 antiprotons are
required for induction of apoptosis
(programmed cell death).
If one only targets patients who
cannot be treated by
conventional methods, the
number of potential U.S. customers
is 550,000/year.
