Antimatters are substances composed of sub-atomic particles that have the mass, electric charge, and magnetic moment of the electrons, protons, and neutrons of ordinary matter. Then What makes them different? Arrangement of Quantum Numbers. Check out the slides to know more about Antimatter.

1. Antimatter

2. What is Antimatter?
▪ Antimatter is same as matter but
varies w.r.t electric charge and
quantum numbers.
▪ Matter contains protons, electrons
etc.
▪ Antimatter contains antiprotons,
positron etc.

3. When did the quest begin?
▪ Paul Dirac gave the first theoretical
paper on antimatter in 1928
▪ Later on Carl Anderson discovered
anti-electron in 1932
▪ The particle so obtained was termed
as “positron”.
Paul Dirac
(Noble Prize in Physics, 1933)

4. How far did we succeed?
▪ The antiproton was discovered in
1955.
▪ Antineutron was detected in 1959.
▪ By the end of 20th century CERN
created first antiatoms i.e.
Antihydrogen.
▪ By far the most complex antiatom
synthesized is antihelium in 2011 at
STAR detector.

5. But what the source?
▪ Follows Einstein’s Mass-
Energy Equivalence i.e. E=mc2
▪ Similarly, high energy gamma
rays are converted to matter-
antimatter pair.

6. Matter-antimatter
Annihilation
▪ Matter and anti-matter interact
and “annihililate” & produce
heavy or light particles.
▪ Antiparticles have opposite
additive quantum numbers than
matter, thus “annihilation.”
▪ Particles can also undergo
annihilation with “not their
mutual antiparticle.”
▪ Obeys conservation of energy
and conservation of momentum.

7. ▪ Cannot be stored in ordinary
containers.
▪ Penning traps designed using
electric and magnetic fields are
used.
▪ Uncharged particles need to be
stored using atomic traps.
▪ This is possible in high- vacuum
conditions only.
▪ In 2011, the scientist at CERN were
able to preserve an Antihydrogen
for approximately 17 minutes.
How would we store
antimatter?

8. Expensive??
▪ Considered to be the costliest
material.
▪ In 1999, NASA estimated $62.5
trillion per gram ofAntihydrogen.
▪ Since production and storage is
very difficult, makes it costly.
▪ Production needs particle
accelerators which cannot be fully
dedicated to antimatter
production.

9. So where do we use it?
▪ Utilized for medical imaging
such as Positron Emission
Tomography (PET).
▪ Isolated and stored antimatter
can be used as fuel for
interplanetary and interstellar
travel.
▪ Annihilation energy can be used
as source of energy.

10. Drawbacks!!
▪ Not at all cost effective.
▪ Can be a weapon of mass
destruction.
▪ Production and storage; great
challenges.

11. Conclusion
▪ Antimatter if managed to be
produced in an economically
affordable manner can be a great
source of energy.
▪ But in wrong hands can be a
weapon of mass destruction too.
▪ Yet antimatter in itself remains a
mystery, so much known yet
more to be harnessed.

12. Bibliography
▪ http://en.Wikipedia.org
▪ Google Scholar
▪ www.Alpha.web.cern.ch
▪ www.elsevier.com
▪ Research paper on “Possible Evidence for the
Existence of Antimatter on a Cosmological Scale in
the Universe.”

13. Thank
You 