• Question: Could anti matter be created and how?

    Asked by anon-187832 to Stewart, Marton, Laura, Kathryn, David, Miriam on 12 Nov 2018. This question was also asked by anon-187829.
    • Photo: David Ho

      David Ho answered on 12 Nov 2018: last edited 12 Nov 2018 11:06 am

      Yes, antimatter can definitely be created! At CERN there is a machine called the “antiproton decelerator”, which has this sign on the outside of the building!

      Antimatter is even used in a type of medical imaging called PET scanning (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron_emission_tomography). Positrons (the antiparticle for an electron) are emitted by certain radioactive atoms when they decay. They’re only around for a very short period of time, but when the interact (harmlessly) with electrons in the body, they create a flash of (again harmless) radiation that can be detected and used to pinpoint tumours.

    • Photo: Stewart Martin-Haugh

      Stewart Martin-Haugh answered on 12 Nov 2018:

      We create antimatter all the time at the Large Hadron Collider, but in very small amounts.

      One thing that’s strange about the universe is that there is much more matter than antimatter – we don’t know why! A lot of things about the universe are symmetrical and we think there should be exactly equal amounts. By creating and measuring antimatter at the Large Hadron Collider we’re hoping to understand why so little of it is still here.

    • Photo: Miriam Hogg

      Miriam Hogg answered on 15 Nov 2018:

      We have created anti matter in small amounts, the problem with anti matter is that if it touches any normal matter they get destroyed. So they have to use strong magnetic fields to hold them away from everything else, it takes a lot of effort and energy to do. But I think that there are researchers who are studying it as a potential energy source of space ships. I think that technology will be very far in the future though if we manage to do it.

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