[Note: It's an-tee-matter, not an-tah-ee-matter. Methinks.]
[IMG]http://www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/english/antimatter/images/idrogeno-anti.gif[/IMG]
[B]- What is Antimatter?[/B]
Antimatter is the quantum opposite of normal matter. It's just like matter, but the subatomic particles have the opposite charge: An electron (e-) would normally have a negative charge, but the Anti-Electron has a positive one (And because of that it's called Positron (e+)). An Anti-Proton (p-) has a negative charge, unlike protons (p+) that have a positive one.
[B]- Why do I care?[/B]
For two reasons:
It is the most explosive substance in known space
It is the most expensive substance in known space (One microgram = 62.3 trillion dollars. Not trolling.)
[B]- How can Antimatter be produced?[/B]
To make some you need a particle accelerator, and a group of particle physicists and engineers. Go ask Fermilab and CERN if you can borrow their supercollider for a couple of days.
The thing is: Antimatter production is basically taking a lot of energy and putting it in a very small storage.
You need a shitdickload of energy, and the collision will produce an equal amount of antimatter and matter. Then, you lead the antimatter out of the accelerator, into a deaccelerator, and then into a Penning trap.
[B]- What is a Penning Trap?[/B]
If you have seen Angels & Demons, you know:
Antimatter + Matter = Total Matter-To-Energy conversion.
So you can put it in a tank and let it there. Antimatter has to be suspended in a magnetic field so that it doesn't touch the walls, and at low temperatures, in a semi-perfect vacuum.
*Another option* is to add a huge cooling system, and freeze the Anti-Hydrogen (Note: It has to reach two degrees above Absolute Zero. This is hard). At that temperature, Hydrogen becomes kind of like a snow flake and can interact with normal matter.
Note: You can't let it float in space, if the amat factory is there. The solar wind is made out of (Ionized) Hydrogen and Helium-3 atoms. Those are matter. They are therefore dangerous.
[B]- Is there any 'stable' matter, like something that can interact with both Matter and Antimatter without blowing the fuck up?[/B]
No. At least we don't have evidence to believe in the existence of such a thing.
If you find something like that, please do tell.
[B]- What are the practical uses?[/B]
There are two main ones:
Antimatter weapons: You can just throw antimatter towards matter and boom. Another, facier options are Relativistic weapons: Accelerating something to near-lightspeed and then ramming it against something. It works amazingly well. And antimatter is pretty much the only way to get this done. Another option are the antimatter flechettes: Small amounts of antimatter, accelerated through a railgun or a coilgun towards the target. After contact, some antimatter is destroyed creating a plasma curtain to protect the core of the antimatter, so it continues moving until at some point it blows up.
Space travel: Antimatter spacecraft can accelerate up to 92% the speed of light. NAFAL (Nearly-as-fast-as-light) travel is the only feasible way to get to the stars. We are not going to stay on Earth or the Inner Solar System until finding out how to create an FTL ship.
See:
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Valkyrie[/url]
[url]http://www.charlespellegrino.com/propulsion.htm[/url]
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICAN-II_(spacecraft[/url])
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AIMStar[/url]
[B]- Can Antimatter be used for energy production?[/B]
No. It requires more energy to produce than what it produces.
Laws of Thermodynamics, also during an antimatter/matter reaction, 50% of the energy is in the form of impossible-to-capture and impossible-to-recover netrinos. These neutrinos can pass through several [B]light years[/B] of lead.
[B]- Can Antimatter be produced on a large scale? How?[/B]
YES.
Currently we can only produce a bunch of particles for tests, at very high costs. This is [B]not[/B] due to our current technology. As stated before: [B]Antimatter production is basically taking a lot of energy and storing it in a small place[/B]. You need energy. How do you get it?
Asimov Arrays. You send self-replicating nanorobots (We're almost there!) to the Moon, where they reproduce and use the local resources to build an array of solar panels around the lunar equator. The energy is sent to Earth through microwave lasers.
There you go, you have enough to power the Earth for the next five billion years. But there's always excess energy. And that energy is sent into synchtron particle accelerators to produce antimatter.
But why stop at the Moon? Have you looked at Mercury lately?
Plus, you don't need a huge array, several square miles in area: A satellite placed near the sun with a panel on mile in diameter could produce lots of antimatter.
Another of the limitations is that Fermilab and CERN are NOT designed to produce antimatter, a dedicated factory would however produce much, much more.
[B]- Does amat exist in the universe?[/B]
Yes. The Big Bang created equal amounts of matter and antimatter. The thing is that those two should have [B]detroyed each other during the creation of the universe[/B]. Somehow, there's more matter than amat. Right now it's one of the enigmas of physics.
There are clouds of naturally-ocurring Anti-Hydrogen, antimatter asteroids and probably Antimatter stars and solar systems. But finding them is not going to happen any time soon.
[B]- I heard something about 'Antimatter mining', what is that?[/B]
Planetary and solar magnetic fields produce anti-protons daily. Right now, there are several grams of delicious amat flying above your head. Remember the cost? 60 trillion per microgram? If you catch them, Earth will be your bitch.
So the trick is sending rings of superconducors (Along with their corresponding cooling system) and catch them. This can be done around Earth, but Jupiter's magnetic field is pretty badass, so it's preferable.
62.3 trillion dollars?
Holy fuck.
Can antimatter be used as a weapon?
[QUOTE=Hoboharry;21370144]62.3 trillion dollars?
Holy fuck.
Can antimatter be used as a weapon?[/QUOTE]
Yes, it's on the middle of the OP.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21370071]*Another option* is to add a huge cooling system, and freeze the Anti-Hydrogen (Note: It has to reach two degrees above Absolute Zero. This is hard). At that temperature, Hydrogen becomes kind of like a snow flake and can interact with normal matter.[/QUOTE]
I did not know this
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;21370239]I did not know this[/QUOTE]
They don't want you to.
:ssh:
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21370071]It is the most expensive substance in known space (One microgram = 62.3 trillion dollars. Not trolling.[/QUOTE]Holy shit.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21370265]They don't want you to.
:ssh:[/QUOTE]
Penning traps are probably better though. I just think that's really interesting.
[QUOTE=Fps_Deffy;21370303]seems really unnecessary if you could just put it in a magnetic container[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;21370239]I did not know this[/QUOTE]
seems really unnecessary if you could just put it in a magnetic container
[b]Edit:[/b]
Penning trap, right
Like CERN will have a FOR RENT sign in the ground outside the lobby.
Also about the amat space travel part. I've heard stuff about using solar flares (or something produced by the sun at the very least) to sort of launch a spacecraft to the stars, riding it like a surfer on a wave.
Is that feasible or just wishful thinking?
I love these threads. Rated informative.
[QUOTE=Eudoxia;21370172]Yes, it's on the middle of the OP.[/QUOTE]
Wasn't the cannon of the Strider in hl2 an anti matter cannon?
I've always found all kinds of enigmas of the universe super-interesting, and antimatter is no different. Great thread.
Fuck yes, we need to find a near inexhaustible source of energy so we can produce a lot of this.
This thread is awesome. Rated Informative.
Costs so much because nobody's made it yet.
[QUOTE=|FlapJack|;21370512]Costs so much because nobody's made it yet.[/QUOTE]
Nope, costs a lot because it's very expensive to make.
i.e. you need a gigantic fuckoff particle accelerator to do it.
So, basically, you're saying that Earth is priced around 60.3 Trillion dollars?
:smug:
[QUOTE=BaconDioxide;21370523]Nope, try again.[/QUOTE]
Large hadron collider isn't ready yet.
[QUOTE=Run&Gun12;21370529]So, basically, you're saying that Earth is priced around 60.3 Trillion dollars?[/QUOTE]
I'll assume the explosion would release equivalent energy to the energy used to create the antimatter. So no.
[QUOTE=ffffff-;21370353]Like CERN will have a FOR RENT sign in the ground outside the lobby.
Also about the amat space travel part. I've heard stuff about using solar flares (or something produced by the sun at the very least) to sort of launch a spacecraft to the stars, riding it like a surfer on a wave.
Is that feasible or just wishful thinking?[/QUOTE]
You might be thinking of the solar sail, which is like a normal sail except it works with solar wind.
[QUOTE=ffffff-;21370353]Like CERN will have a FOR RENT sign in the ground outside the lobby.
Also about the amat space travel part. I've heard stuff about using solar flares (or something produced by the sun at the very least) to sort of launch a spacecraft to the stars, riding it like a surfer on a wave.
Is that feasible or just wishful thinking?[/QUOTE]
It's feasible, it's called Solar Sailing, and there have been tests,
However, it's very, very slow and inefficient UNLESS you grab a couple of asteroids and strap a solar panel to them. Then, you can use a laser to pump the solar sail.
It's called Starwisp.
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starwisp[/url]
[quote]One microgram = 62.3 trillion dollars[/quote]
If you got that from wikipedia, the article actually says "$62.5 trillion per [b]gram[/b] for antihydrogen." Also, the article later states "Many experts, however, dispute these claims as being far too optimistic by many orders of magnitude. They point out that in 2004, the annual production of antiprotons at CERN was several picograms at a cost of $20 million. This means to produce 1 gram of antimatter, CERN would need to spend 100 quadrillion dollars and run the antimatter factory for 100 billion years." So putting a dollar value on it right now is pointless.
So there are planets and entire solar systems made of anti-matter?
Can anti-matter be used for energy production?
Is the future really this orgasmic? Or is this like when I'm 60?
Added something important to the OP:
[QUOTE][B]- Can Antimatter be used for energy production?[/B]
No. It requires more energy to produce than what it produces.
Laws of Thermodynamics, also during an antimatter/matter reaction, 50% of the energy is in the form of impossible-to-capture and impossible-to-recover netrinos. These neutrinos can pass through several [B]light years[/B] of lead.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Rubs10;21370636]So there are planets and entire solar systems made of anti-matter?[/QUOTE]
No, because as soon as antimatter comes into contact with matter, it explodes. And since all matter and antimatter will have come from the "big bang", it will always have been in contact with matter. Antimatter (In my opinion) is what probably caused the big bang in the first place - coming into contact with matter.
[b]Edit:[/b]
[quote]Yes. The Big Bang created equal amounts of matter and antimatter. The thing is that those two should have detroyed each other during the creation of the universe. Somehow, there's more matter than amat. Right now it's one of the enigmas of physics.
There are clouds of naturally-ocurring Anti-Hydrogen, antimatter asteroids and probably Antimatter stars and solar systems. But finding them is not going to happen any time soon.[/quote]
Just read that in the OP. Now I feel like an idiot.
[QUOTE=Rubs10;21370636]So there are planets and entire solar systems made of anti-matter?[/QUOTE]
Imagine that, a freaking planet made of the stuff.
And it wouldn't look any different from a matter planet.
If this could be completely harnessed it then that would be diabolical.
[QUOTE=|FlapJack|;21370667]No, because as soon as antimatter comes into contact with matter, it explodes. And since all matter and antimatter will have come from the "big bang", it will always have been in contact with matter. Antimatter (In my opinion) is what probably caused the big bang in the first place - coming into contact with matter.
[b]Edit:[/b]
Just read that in the OP. Now I feel like an idiot.[/QUOTE]
Look at it from this way,
Matter explodes when it comes into contact with anti-matter.
They both explode.
From what it sounds like, this is a correct statement, is it not OP?
Here's the mindfuck. How do we know that we're not antimatter, and that the antimatter isn't truly matter?
[QUOTE=|FlapJack|;21370667]No, because as soon as antimatter comes into contact with matter, it explodes.[/QUOTE]
There actually may be entire galaxies of antimatter, we just have no way of seeing them yet. Scientists have theorized that matter and antimatter were produced during the big bang at an equal or nearly equal rate, and that the visible universe from our position if composed almost entirely of matter, but other parts of the universe may be composed almost entirely of antimatter.
[quote=|FlapJack|;21370667]And since all matter and antimatter will have come from the "big bang", it will always have been in contact with matter. Antimatter (In my opinion) is what probably caused the big bang in the first place - coming into contact with matter.[/quote]
You just contradicted yourself. If all matter and antimatter came from the big bang, how could a matter/antimatter reaction have caused it?
[QUOTE=archangel125;21370765]Here's the mindfuck. How do we know that we're not antimatter, and that the antimatter isn't truly matter?[/QUOTE]
It's not really a mindfuck. It's all in the eye of the beholder, so to speak. And since (I believe) it is impossible for life to be composed of antimatter (because of the way antimatter interacts with other antimatter) then there's nobody to contradict us :v:
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
