SegwayChat - AntiMatter

Replicating antimatter is a thing CERN could do for a while now. Before getting off on an antimatter tangent, I suggest you read the many books by Stephen Hawking, mainly [u]A Brief History of Time</u>. His books are the best way for Joe Schmoe to learn about the modern world of physics. If you are really interested in the stuff, you can read [u]Universe in a Nutshell</u> by Hawking as well...

If you haven't had experience in basic chemistry, then these topics will probabaly baffle you.

Now, antimatter is the same as matter (any element in the periodic table), except it is its "exact opposite". For instance, regular matter is comprised of neutrons, protons, and electrons. Antimatter, on the other hand, is comprised of neutrons, antiprotons, and positrons (opposite of electrons). Neutrons are still neutral, but the antiprotons in the neucleus are negatively charged, and the positrons orbiting the neucleus are postiviely charged. These are theoretically created by colliding subatomic particles using extremely high magnetic fields. They are accelerated at very, very high speeds, in near vacuum environment.

The magnetic fields are used for two purposes, to propel the particles (read Hawking's book and they explain that 4 forces exist on the sub-atomic level, strong, weak, magnetic, and gravitational). They are also used to separate regular matter from antimatter, and keep them separated. This is because when antimatter and matter join, massive amounts of energy is released. This can be modeled by Albert Einstein's equation E=M*C^2. Energy (in Joules) is equal to the mass of the atom, or substance, multiplied by the speed of light (300,000 km/sec)^2. When antimatter and matter meet, theoretically a photon, or a particle of light, is formed. This, as depicted in Hawking's book, has been proven. They split a photon into a particle of matter and antimatter. Of course, they were annihilated a few nanoseconds later.

Read the book if you want to learn more. It will make you think in ways you never thought possible. I strongly suggest that you read it if you ever think about a scientific field. It's a mind-bending read. If you have experience in the stuff, it will be a little smoother, but he starts from the beginning, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Theoretically, antimatter behaves exactly like matter. There could be universes outside of our universe comprised of antimatter. Antimatter rises host to a whole bunch of theories. Especially since it has been proven.

http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/live...ter/index.html if you want some light (pun) reading.