An Introduction to Antimatter

Benedict D Newball Diez

In my article I would like to talk about a subject that has not been discussed in our course of FISI 3172. I would like to talk about antimatter, some of its potential uses and give some opinion as to how it could be used and why we are not using it right now. 

I should start by giving a brief description of what antimatter really is. We could start by remembering solving a quadratic equation you always would get two answers a negative and a positive. Well antimatter is precisely the exact opposite of matter. A funny way to look at it would be taking matter and multiplying it by negative one. What this means is that the anti-proton would have a charge of –e and the anti-neutron has a charge of e. Everything with the same mass. There is very little antimatter in the universe; this is known because when it comes into contact with regular matter they annihilate each other, releasing a lot of energy sometimes in the form of gamma rays that would be detectable. Because of this the formation of antimatter requires vast amounts of energy. 

Antimatter is made where there are high-energy particle collisions. Artificially these can also be produced with highly advanced equipment that requires a vast amount of energy and even more funding. One of the most important creations related to antimatter would have to be the anti-hydrogen atom which was created in an experiment using a Low Energy Anti-Proton Ring (LEAR). This was an experiment designed to decelerate and store the precious antimatter, study the properties of it and create antihydrogen atoms. This experiment was made in 1982 and in1996 was converted into the Low Energy Ion Ring (LEIR). 

Antimatter has the potential to be the primarily energy source in the world. One of the most extraordinary uses would have to be its ability to provide fuel for interplanetary travel for space ships. It would be called antimatter catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion. This type of energy would be a lot more useful than regular energy. Studies have shown that antimatter has ten times the energy per unit mass that the conventional chemical energy that is typically used is space travel. Another amazing fact about antimatter energy is that it is not only more efficient than chemical energy but it has been calculated that the use of this energy source has about 3 times more energy per unit mass than the energy that would be produced by a nuclear fission and 2 times as much energy as a nuclear fusion! 

As a mechanical engineer major I must admit I get blown away by all the potential this type of energy has. It is said that a very small amount of antimatter could power a city for a very long time and that a gram of it could run your car for 100,000 years! This has the potential to grant us victory over the long fought light-speed battle we faced when traveling in space. It is obvious to say that this type of energy represents the future and in my opinion should be dealt a lot more importance in the research and development programs. 

On the down side with our technology as it is we might be very far away from achieving this utopian idea. The cost of development alone has put a stomp on the research and development of this energy. Another pessimist way to look at this situation is the corruption of man-kind and the fear of this energy being used for bad and not peaceful porpoises. Exactly what happened with nuclear technology. 

       I for one choose to stay on the optimist side of the situation hoping for one day in which I will be dealing myself with this type of technology. Because with modern advances these days you’ll never know what will happen tomorrow.  That is my take on antimatter I hope that you have enjoyed it.