What is Antimatter?

Topics to be covered.

1. Definition

2. Types of antiparticles

3.Annihilation

4. Formation

5. Storage

Now, antimatter you must have heard this word many times even I have mentioned it in many of my previous posts but the question arises WHAT IS IT?

Basically, antimatter is a particle which is made of subatomic particles which are of opposite charge to that of matter. For eg electrons have almost negligible mass and a negative charge on it and revolves around the nucleus while its counterpart in antimatter (positrons) functions very similarly and the only difference is that it is positively charged. the protons of normal matter have a positive charge but its counterpart in antimatter has a negative charge on it. Now, what happens to the neutrons?

Before answering this you must understand a concept known as baryon number.

Baryon number is the number of baryon in a subatomic particle system a quark has a baryon number of 1/3 as a baryon is made up of 3 quarks. A neutron has a baryon number of +1 and its counterpart in antimatter (antineutrons) has a baryon number of -1 as it has more anti baryons which have a baryon number of-1.

Now, its time to talk about what happens when matter and antimatter come in contact. This process is called annihilation as antimatter has an exactly opposite charge to that of matter and made up of mostly antiquarks it reacts with the matter when came in contact. A common misconception is that when matter touches antimatter it disappears without leaving any sign of existence. In truth what happens is that when matter and antimatter collide energy is emitted in the form of heat and light.

Its time to talk about how antimatter is made-

1. Naturally:- 

(I) You may not be aware of but you while reading this blog is creating positrons. This is because the potassium - 40 substance when decomposes produces positrons and it is a substance that is present in almost every organism in small amounts.

(II) Pair production which I have mentioned earlier.

(III) Antineutrino is another kind of antiparticle created by natural radioactivity decay. 

(III) Many different kinds of antiparticles are also produced by cosmic rays. 

(IV) It is proved that antimatter is produced above thunderstorm clouds. 

(V) Positrons are produced in gamma-ray flashes created by electrons accelerated by strong electric fields in the clouds.

(VI) Black holes and neutron stars produce vast amounts of positron-electron plasma by the gamma-ray burst.

2. Artificially:-

Form the above explanation we know that the positrons and antiprotons are made by radioactive element decay in nature. The same way we can make positrons and antiprotons in our labs. Now, if we can get these particles so close to each other that form atom antimatter will be formed. CERN a research institute on particle and quantum physics has created over 100 atoms of antihydrogen in their labs by using the same method.

If a matter comes in contact with antimatter light and radiation will be produced so it is impossible to keep an atom of antimatter in our atmosphere. So, the question arises that where is an atom of antihydrogen kept?

The answer is that the particle is stored and preserved in a container inside which there are complete vacuum and in order to not let the particle float and come in contact with the border of the container it is kept under an intense magnetic field.