The Enigmatic World of Antimatter: Unravelling the Mysteries of the Universe's Mirror Image

- Vipran Vasan

Matter is all around us. Tables, chairs, books, and laptops are all made of matter. The typical definition of matter is anything which has mass and volume, however, there is something known as antimatter. As the name suggests, it is the opposite of matter in terms of charge and spin. Other parameters such as mass and other quantum measurements remain the same.

The theorization of antimatter originated with Schrodinger's wave equation. It is a mathematical equation derived to describe the energy and position of an electron in space and time. The Schrodinger Equation also defines something known as the wave function. It is the probability of certain measurements being true for a quantum particle. For example, the position and spin of the particle. In this equation’s original form, if we consider the solutions then we end up with negative measurements such as negative energy and negative probability density.

Schrodinger's Wave Equation, wherein H is a Hamiltonian Operator: Hψ=Eψ

When Paul Dirac came into the picture, he tried to solve these two problems because algebra simply allows for multiple positive solutions. Physicists have been working with the positive solution the entire time, but since both these values provide the same result, antimatter should theoretically exist.

The Dirac formula was derived in 1928, becoming the first ever antimatter theorization:

Figure 1 - Dirac Formula which is a modification of Schrödinger's equation.

This was later proved by the observation of a positron particle in a cloud chamber by Carl David Anderson in 1932.

Since then, we have been observing antimatter in either the upper atmosphere of Earth or a particle accelerator. These observations have led physicists to discover the cosmological hyperreality that exists when antimatter meets matter. When antimatter meets matter, they undergo a process known as annihilation.

Annihilation does not mean complete destruction but instead just that the matter is converted into another form of energy which is released in gamma rays. The energy released is directly proportional to both the matter’s mass based on . To put the enormous amount of energy released into perspective, if one kilogram of antimatter and one kilogram of matter were to annihilate each other, it would release 3000 times more energy than the Hiroshima bombing. This is why scientists want to search for more antimatter to use their energy, though due to its asymmetric distribution (elucidated below), its findings in research are scarce.

That is when one of the largest mysteries in cosmology comes into being. During the Big Bang, there should have been an equal amount of matter and Antimatter created. However, now after 13.7 billion years, antimatter is barely found. This is called the “The Matter-Antimatter Asymmetry Problem,” the cause for which is still unknown to us.

This predicament has led modern physicists to obtain useful applications of antimatter that make it worth searching for. Antimatter is extensively used in the medical field at PET (Positron Emission Tomography). Upon injection, a small amount of radioactive substance travels to the site of tumor or cancer while annihilating the electrons in our body. The trail of gamma rays released is read by sensors and a perfect map of where the disease has spread is fabricated. Furthermore, annihilation can be used for powering rockets due to its tremendous amount of energy released in interstellar travel. Later research suggests positron application in making fusion reactors more effective. If one can observe antimatter and understand it as an entity, then we could obtain insights of fundamental laws of physics and even discover new physics beyond the standard model.