antimatter: it matters by alex elizabeth heart
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Antimatter: It Matters by Alex Elizabeth Heart. What is Antimatter?. Gabrielse. The Big Bang. 15 million years ago the universe was born First moment of the big bang extreme heat enforced homogeneity of energy - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Image: NASA
Antimatter: It Mattersby Alex Elizabeth Heart
Alex Elizabeth Heart
What is Antimatter?
Image: Professor Gerald Gabrielse
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Gabrielse
The Big Bang
• 15 million years ago the universe was born• First moment of the big bang extreme heat
enforced homogeneity of energy• Less than 1 nanosecond old energy coalesced
symmetrically into equal amounts of matter and antimatter
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Symmetry Problem
Alex Elizabeth Heart Image: Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man
• Equal amounts of matter and antimatter came into existence
• Matter and antimatter annihilate each other completely
• We cease to exist
Image: Virginia Tech
Searching for Asymmetry• B mesons are especially heavy particles• By studying their rate of decay, science hopes to unveil asymmetry• This could help explain why matter exists
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Leptogenesis
• Leptogenesis explains the asymmetry of matter and antimatter
• “…very heavy neutrinos morphed into a shower of antineutrinos. The antineutrinos pulled the lepton side of the see-saw down; the amount of ordinary matter had no choice but to increase.”
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: NASA
After the Big Bang
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: Education Closet
Key Discoveries
Each is essential to account for where our knowledge of antimatter is at today
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: Cover Junction
Albert Einstein
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: United States Public Domain
Paul Dirac
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: Caltech Archives
Carl Anderson
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: Isaac Asimov
Science Fiction Influence
• Seetee Stock • I, Robot• Star Trek
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: Star Trek
Star Trek
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Image: NASA
Antimatter as a Fuel?
“If an idea does not sound absurd there is no hope for it” –Albert Einstein
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Radiation Therapy
High energy radiation to shrink tumors and kill cancer cells
Alex Elizabeth Heart Image: SoftPedia
Antiprotons vs. Other Particles
Alex Elizabeth Heart
• Photons: damage healthy cells going in and out of the body
• Protons: damage healthy cells going in but not out of the body
• Antiprotons: same as protons with more concentrated energy deposition and more accurate
Energy Deposition
Alex Elizabeth Heart Image: Lewis, R. A., Smith, G. A., & Howe, S. D.
Accuracy
Alex Elizabeth Heart Image: ECAA.org
Image cc
Antimatter is Expensive
• NASA Estimates that it costs $62.5 trillion to produce 1 gram of antimatter
Alex Elizabeth Heart
Let’s Improve
• More facilities need to focus on making antiprotons and better methods need to be identified.
• According to Kalogeropoulos & Muratore "Antiprotons are the best particles for [cancer] therapy" (1989)
Alex Elizabeth Heart