Can particles travel through the galaxy unharmed and undestroyed by interstellar dust and radiation?
What is antimatter?
Antimatter is the same as ordinary (baryonic)except that it has the opposite electrical charge. For example, an electron with a negative charge has an antimatter "partner" known as a positron. A positron is a particle with the same mass as an electron, but with a positive charge. Particles with no electrical charge, such as neutrons, are often "self-partners" of antimatter.
Scientists have already created antimatter particles usingultra-high collision velocities at the LHC. In several experiments at CERN, scientists have created antihydrogen, a "partner" of hydrogen. The most complex element of antimatter obtained to date is antihelium, an analogue of helium.
An artist's idea of antimatter. Photo: CERN
Although this may sound like something from a scientificfiction, antimatter is real. Antimatter appeared with matter after the Big Bang. But it's rare in the modern universe, and scientists don't know why.
How can antimatter particles cross the galaxy?
In the universe, antimatter isan elusive and unpredictable force: it annihilates when it meets ordinary matter, creating a cosmic obstacle course of destruction. But in a recent groundbreaking experiment at Particle Collider facilities, scientists realized that some antinuclei could survive interstellar travel without dying.
It is assumed that they are formed as a resultcollisions between high-energy cosmic rays and atoms that "float" in space, as well as in the collision of dark matter particles (earlier, Hi-Tech told in detail what it is).
If these tiny fragments can survivesuch extraordinary journeys will help scientists understand the nature of this mysterious substance that makes up most of our galaxy - dark matter.
How was the experiment?
Scientists used data from the Large Hadroncollider to find out if antinuclei generated in space can reach detectors in the vicinity of the Earth safe and sound. To test the theory, physicists conducted an experiment at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland. The researchers tried to measure something seemingly impossible: the consequences of the destruction of antihelium nuclei.
Part of the BASE experiment at CERN, where antimatter is produced and stored in the laboratory. Photo: CERN
Using the ALICE detector, they carefullycalculated the collisions of high-energy protons with atoms, which should have produced an equal number of helium and antihelium nuclei. By guessing how many antinuclei annihilated on materials made up of certain detectors—steel, carbon, and so on—the scientists pinpointed exactly what happens when these particles come into contact with ordinary matter.
The findings will help answer longstanding questions about the nature of antimatter and its role in the universe.
What did the scientists find out?
Computer simulation showed thatThe "probability of disappearance" of antimatter particles is surprisingly small. They found that even after traveling vast distances through interstellar space, up to 50% of the antinuclei created by dark matter would remain intact as they approached Earth.
Physicists also found that antinuclei createdcosmic rays have higher energies than those created by dark matter. After all, only high-energy antinuclei could reach the Earth in large quantities. Another study showed how standard detectors can detect dark matter with impressive signal-to-noise ratios if it is produced by astrophysical sources.
Why is it important?
According to physicists around the world, understandingthe mysterious origin of dark matter is a key priority of modern science. Also, the authors of the new study said that a deeper study of the formation of antinuclei can be invaluable for a better understanding and subsequent definition of theories regarding dark matter itself.
New experiments have already been called groundbreakingresearch that helps answer one of the most important questions in modern science: do antimatter particles exist? More recently, aboard the International Space Station, a detector known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer has already detected potential antinuclear signatures. So the answer is close at hand.
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Cover image: Jingchuan Yu, Beijing Planetarium