Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Nepal protests
  • Nepal Protests Live
  • Vice-presidential elections
  • iPhone 17
  • IND vs PAK cricket
  • Israel-Hamas war
fp-logo
Antimatter particles make waves in the physics community after double-slit study
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
  • Home
  • Tech
  • science
  • Antimatter particles make waves in the physics community after double-slit study

Antimatter particles make waves in the physics community after double-slit study

tech2 News Staff • May 10, 2019, 13:26:07 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

Antimatter particles showed patterns only waves do when subjected to the double-slit experiment.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Add as a preferred source on Google
Prefer
Firstpost
On
Google
Antimatter particles make waves in the physics community after double-slit study

One of the oddest, most fascinating questions in the field of quantum mechanics is the dual nature of subatomic particles, which also act like waves. The time-honoured test of the wave nature of matter — the double-slit experiment — was used to test antimatter particles, and for the first time, it passed, with lots of interference (which in the case of physics is a breakthrough and not a distraction). Antimatter is similar in many ways to regular particles we’re familiar with, like protons and electrons, except that they have the opposite charge and magnetic properties. When antimatter and matter mix, they combine and disappear in a huge flash of energy. This makes antimatter a rare and difficult material to study — but not impossible. The antimatter counterpart of an electron — called a positron — was put to the test in the traditional double-slit experiment in a new study published in Science Advances.

In the double-slit experiment, individual particles are shot through slits that are placed at a small distance from each other. When the particles — antimatter, in this case — reach either slit simultaneously, the test allows scientists to observe whether the matter interferes with itself after some distance. For instance, water waves and sound waves released from two parallel slits would clash at a certain point with each other. Light, too, is wave and particle by nature. Scientists used positrons from a radioactive material, which were accelerated to form a positron beam. While the traditional experiment has two simple slits, the positron beam was sent through two long, slit-shaped cavities with space between them. This setup helped magnify the effects the researchers needed to measure. When the positrons (antimatter) hit a detector, they formed a pattern, called the interference pattern, that are unique to waveforms. [caption id=“attachment_6607851” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]A double-slit interference pattern created by sunlight passing through two slits. Image: Wikimedia Commons A double-slit interference pattern created by sunlight passing through two slits. Image: Wikimedia Commons[/caption] This interference made by matter waves is at the heart of quantum physics. It’s a phenomenon that has been observed for many particles — from electrons to complex molecules. And now, researchers have demonstrated that antimatter, too, behaves like both waves and particles in nature. Decades ago, Albert Einstein predicted in his Theory of Relativity that gravity affects antimatter just like it affects all other matter. Experiments like (and unlike) the double-slit could open up new avenues to look at how antimatter behaves, including the effect of gravity on it.

Tags
Energy science Physics universe Subatomic particles quantum mechanics antimatter matter Protons waveforms
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
End of Article

Top Stories

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Israel targets top Hamas leaders in Doha; Qatar, Iran condemn strike as violation of sovereignty

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Nepal: Oli to continue until new PM is sworn in, nation on edge as all branches of govt torched

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Who is CP Radhakrishnan, India's next vice-president?

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Israel informed US ahead of strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha, says White House

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV