Antimatter: The Ultimate Mirror

by Gordon Fraser

• ISBN13: 9780521652520
• ISBN10: 0521652529
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-05-18
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In 1928 the physicist Paul Dirac predicted the existence of antimatter in a mirror world, where the electrical charges on particles would be opposite to those of ordinary matter. This mirror world is found, fleetingly, at the quantum level, with positrons the counterpart of electrons, and antiprotons the opposite of protons. This book introduces the world of antimatter without using technical language or equations. The author shows how the quest for symmetry in physics slowly revealed the properties of antimatter. When large particle accelerators came on line, the antimatter debris of collisions provided new clues on its properties. This is a fast-paced and lucid account of how science fiction became fact.

Author Biography

Gordon Fraser works at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, Geneva, Switzerland, where he is Editor of CERN Courier, a monthly magazine covering all aspects of particle physics. He has been a Visiting Lecturer in Science Communication at several universities

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
Science fiction becomes science fact	1	(12)
Mirror worlds	13	(14)
An imbalanced kit of electrical parts	27	(18)
The quantum master	45	(20)
Positive proof	65	(12)
The back passage of time	77	(18)
The quark and the antiquark	95	(14)
Broken mirrors	109	(18)
The cosmic cork-screw	127	(14)
Antiparticle collision course	141	(16)
Setting a trap for antimatter	157	(14)
Glue versus antichemistry	171	(10)
Antimatter in action	181	(14)
Antimatter of the utmost gravity	195	(14)
Names index	209	(2)
Subject index	211