So physicists at CERN (the European Center for Nuclear Research) did another experiment, and the conclusion was that the universe should not exist. So be thankful that the universe does exist, and that you have the power to jump the fold to find out why the universe doesn’t exist… and you may want to bring something to drink as well.
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(h/t to Greg Dworkin, for providing a link to this article in his APR on Monday.)
So, what’s the problem? Why is an experimental result giving physicists pause for thought about why there’s a universe at all? It has to do with antimatter. Particles of antimatter have masses that are exactly the same as those of their matter counterparts, but the opposite electrical charge. The anti-electron (or positron) has a positive charge, while the electron has a negative one. Likewise, the antiproton has a negative charge while the proton has a positive one. The thing about antimatter, though, is that if it comes into contact with its matter equivalent, it will disappear in an intense burst of game rays. Matter and antimatter can’t coexist for long in close proximity.
As far as anyone can tell, the universe is made up of matter. Antimatter at best is a minor, transient component. Yet theories of the Big Bang require that, at the beginning of the universe, the amounts of matter and antimatter present were equal. Eventually, as the universe expanded, the matter and antimatter annihilated each other, except for a very tiny excess of matter present, and that’s what we and everything we see is made from. Somehow, despite the theoretical symmetry between matter and antimatter, some kind of asymmetry made it possible for there to be slightly more matter than antimatter in the early universe. If there had been no asymmetry, there would have been no excess matter, no stars or galaxies, no Earth, no humans, no smartphones, no nuthin’.
If there was an asymmetry between matter and antimatter in the early universe, physicists believe that there ought to be a slight but measurable difference in the physical properties of matter and antimatter counterpart particles. However, no matter how carefully they measure these properties, antimatter particles seems to be identical to their matter partners, except for opposite charges.
This latest experiment reported from CERN involved the most precise measurement ever made on the magnetic moment of the antiproton. This required developing new ways to handle the stuff. To me, one of the more interesting bits from the article was this:
After creating the antiprotons in 2015, the team were able to store them for more than a year inside a special chamber about the size and shape of a can of Pringles.
Since no physical container can hold antimatter, physicists use magnetic and electric fields to contain the material in devices called Penning traps.
Usually the antimatter lifetime is limited by imperfections in the traps – little instabilities allow the antimatter to leak through.
But by using a combination of two traps, the BASE team made the most perfect antimatter chamber ever – holding the antiprotons for 405 days.
Antimatter stored in a can of Pringles for 405 days! Who could have imagined? This is the stuff of Star Trek!
So to cut to the chase, the magnetic moments of the proton and antiproton agree to nine decimal places (except for the sign reversal). If there’s a difference between matter and antimatter, it appears not to reside in the magnetic moment. So it’s back to the drawing board on this one. At this point, we still have no clue why there’s matter in the universe. In the meantime, if you happen to encounter any antimatter in your daily routine, avoid it at all costs.
Edit: Kossack science has pointed out in the comments below, that there should be no expectation that the magnetic moments of the proton and antiproton should differ, and that the author of the article featured in this post was just casting about for an attention-getting title. Well, it got my attention, and apparently got yours, too. In any case, the asymmetry between matter and antimatter, as expounded upon by both science and dewtx in the comments, has to do with their time-dependent dynamics rather than with such static properties as mass, charge and magnetic moment. I regret my ignorance on the topic that allowed me to fall for this.
And now, on to the comments!
Top Comments (October 25, 2017):
From Ed Tracey:
In the diary by News Corpse - about Rachel Maddow’s ratings triumph over Sean Hannity since Hannity’s network's recent time-slot shuffling - News Corpse responds to a question (from thickasabrick) about the title of Hannity's network ... with a great one-liner.
Top Mojo (October 24, 2017):
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Top Photos (October 24, 2017):