Scientists brought out one of the most extreme hypotheses regarding the universe. Judging from the equal quantities of matter and antimatter which were produced at the birth of the universe, the two of them should have destroyed each other. Therefore, the universe shouldn’t have been here today.
Matter and antimatter should have annihilated each other
The CERN scientists delved deeper into the study of matter and antimatter, and discovered some interesting things about them. The main difference between the two is the fact that they have opposite electrical charges. From then on, they are completely identical, which raises some questions regarding their coexistence.
Since the matter and antimatter are mirror images of each other, scientists are now wondering how the universe still exists. This leads to more mysteries, since something must have happened that stopped the two opposing matters from destroying each other. Fortunately, they have some hints on what could have been.
The antiproton might hold the key to this mystery
The antiproton is the equivalent of the proton which exists in the antimatter. This might be the key in finding out the answer, but researchers need to answer some questions first. If the antiproton contains the same magnetic charge as the proton, then the mystery must be solved.
With the help of a technique called two-particle measurement, they managed to catch two individual antiprotons from a magnetic field, and measure both of them. The measurement of the first one took place at a hot water temperature, while the second one was brought close to absolute zero.
Then, by using some other advanced measurements which captured the momentum of the antiprotons in different states, they managed to reach a conclusion. The value they obtained was incredibly similar to the one discovered for the proton in 2014. All the other complex details of the study have been published in the journal Nature.
Image Source: Pexels
