CREATED BY:- GUIDED BY:-

Ankit Kishor Manoj Dubey Sir

16224
What is antimatter?
Antiparticles
Annihilation
Artificial production
Antimatter storage
Applications
Antimatter is exactly what you might think it is
i.e, the opposite of normal matter, of which the
majority of our universe is made. These anti-
particles are, literally, mirror images of normal
matter. Each anti-particle has the same mass
as its corresponding particle, but the electrical
charges are reversed.
Positrons-Electrons with a positive instead of negative charge. Discovered
by Carl Anderson in 1932, positrons were the first evidence that
antimatter existed.
Anti-protons-Protons that have a negative instead of the usual positive
charge. In 1955, researchers at the Berkeley Bevatron produced an
antiproton.
Anti-atoms-Pairing together positrons and antiprotons, scientists at
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, created
the first anti-atom. Nine anti-hydrogen atoms were created, each
lasting only 40 nanoseconds. As of 1998, CERN researchers were
pushing the production of anti-hydrogen atoms to 2,000 per hour.
When antimatter comes into contact with normal matter,
these equal but opposite particles collide to produce an
explosion emitting pure radiation, which travels out of the
point of the explosion at the speed of light. Both particles
that created the explosion are completely annihilated,
leaving behind other subatomic particles. The explosion
that occurs when antimatter and matter interact transfers
the entire mass of both objects into energy. Scientists
believe that this energy is more powerful than any that can
be generated by other propulsion methods.
Ideal energy density for chemical reactions is 1 x 107 (10^7)
J/kg, for nuclear fission it is 8 x 1013 (10^13) J/kg and for nuclear
fusion it is 3 x 1014 (10^14) J/kg, but for the matter-antimatter
annihilation it is 9 x 1016 (10^16) J/kg. This is 1010 (10 billion) times that of
conventional chemical propellants. This represents the
highest energy release per unit mass of any known
reaction in physics. The reason for this is that the
annihilation is the complete conversion of matter into
energy , rather than just the part conversion that occurs in
fission and fusion.
One of einstein’s greatest insight was to realize that
matter and energy are actually different forms of the
same thing . Matter can be turned in to energy and energy
in to matter . Einstein’s formula tells us the amount of
energy a particular amount of matter will be equivalent to
if it is suddenly converted in to energy . This is what
happens in annihilation. The amount of energy released
can be calculated using einstein’s formula e=mc2.
Antimatter study becomes extremely important as
the energy released during annihilation of matter
and antimatter can be used to meet our energy
requirements . Scientists in famous research
facilities are working on to make an effective way to
use energy released through annihilation for various
purposes and also a safe facility to store antimatter
in considerable quantities so that it can be used.
There is technology available to create antimatter through
the use of high-energy particle colliders, also called
"atom smashers." Atom smashers, like CERN, are large
tunnels lined with powerful super magnets that circle
around to propel atoms at near-light speeds. When an
atom is sent through this accelerator, it slams into a
target, creating particles. Some of these particles are
antiparticles that are separated out by the magnetic field.
These high-energy particle accelerators
only produce one or two picograms of
antiprotons each year. A picogram is a
trillionth of a gram. All of the antiprotons
produced at CERN in one year would be
enough to light a 100-watt electric light
bulb for three seconds.
The highly complex and sophisticated
nature of artificial production of antimatter
has made it the most expensive substance
on earth. In 1999,the estimated cost for 1
gram of antimatter was about $62.5
trillion !!!
It is possible that particles outnumbered anti-particles at the
time of the Big Bang. As stated above, the collision of particles
and anti-particles destroys both. And because there may have
been more particles in the universe to start with, those are all
that's left. There may be no naturally-existing anti-particles in
our universe today. However, scientists discovered a possible
deposit of antimatter near the center of the galaxy in 1977. If
that does exist, it would mean that antimatter exists naturally,
and the need to make our own antimatter would be eliminated.
Antiparticles have either a positive or
a negative electrical charge, so they
can be stored in what we call a trap
which has the appropriate
configuration of electrical and
magnetic fields to keep them confined
in a small place. Of course, this has to
be done in good vacuum to avoid
collisions with matter particles.
Antiatoms are electrically neutral, but
they have magnetic properties that
can be used to keep them in "magnetic
bottles".
PET Scan
 Particle physicists regularly use collisions between electrons and their
antiparticles, positrons, to investigate matter and fundamental forces at high
energies.
 When electron and positron meet, they annihilate, turning into energy which, at
high energies, can rematerialize as new particles and antiparticles. This is what
happens at machines such as the Large Electron Positron (LEP) collider at
CERN.
 At low energies, however, the electron-positron annihilations can be put to
different uses, for example to reveal the workings of the brain in the technique
called Positron Emission Tomography (PET).In PET, the positrons come from
the decay of radioactive nuclei incorporated in a special fluid injected into the
patient. The positrons then annihilate with electrons in nearby atoms. As the
electron and positron are almost at rest when they annihilate, there is not
enough annihilation energy to make even the lightest particle and antiparticle
(the electron and the positron), so the energy emerges as two gamma rays,
which shoot off in opposite directions to conserve momentum.
If we are enable to develop a propulsion system which uses
antimatter as the source of energy in the future it will surely render
any other Newtonian rocket obsolete overnight, the system has the
highest predicted efficiency, specific impulse and probably the
highest thrust to weight ratio. There does seem to be a serious
amount of disagreement over this last point, the general feeling
seems to be that the thrust to weight will at least comparable to
today's very powerful chemical rockets. What this means is that
only 100 milligrams (1/10 gram) of antimatter would be needed to
match the total propulsive energy of the Space Shuttle (all those
huge tanks of fuel!).
There are actually two choices for propulsion. Well
electron-positron annihilation produces high
energy gamma rays which are impossible to
control, hence useless for propulsion, and on top of
this are potentially very dangerous. Whereas the
proton-antiproton annihilation produces charged
particles (mostly pions moving at velocities close
to that of light) that can be directed with magnetic
fields, maximizing propellant mass
Estimates for travel times to Mars for
an advanced antimatter rocket are
anywhere from 24 hours to 2 weeks, it
is probable that it will be somewhere in
between. Compare this to the space
shuttle using its conventional chemical
propulsion when a trip to Mars would
take between 1 and 2 years !!!
Antimatter indeed has the potential of becoming the
most efficient source of energy. But as the
artificial production of antimatter has made it the
most expensive substance on earth , we still have
to wait until we find it naturally . In sometime in
future we can hope that we will be capable of
travelling anywhere inside our galaxy with the help
of antimatter spaceships.
 Antimatter-Frank Close-Oxford
University Press.
 Gordon Fraser-Antimatter The
Ultimate Mirror.
QUESTIONS!!!!!
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