About a century ago, we made the theoretical, then experimental, discovery of antimatter. Every known particle must also exist in the same form, but with an opposite charge. Quantum theory, combined with the theory of special relativity, predicted that they should arise in pairs. Therefore, an electron with an antielectron and a proton with an antiproton; The PhotonPhoton –.the grain of n the lightthe light Neutral – The other side has its own. antiparticleantiparticle As far as we know.
Antimatter theory is actually a bit more complicated than that, but without going into all the details, it leads to a mystery. As many as The matterThe matter that antimatter should have been created during The Big BangThe Big BangBut this is not the case, at least in me VolumeVolume OfUniverseUniverse Observables We can solve this puzzle by assuming that there are subtle differences between matter particles and antimatter particles, specifically between protons and antiprotons.
It was only at the age of 26, in 1928, that Paul Derrick formulated the equation that bears his name. And it took a whole year to get there! 9 in ite Equality phenomenon Keys to PhysicsDiscover the history of the Dirac equation, which made it possible to predict the existence of antimatter… a true revolution! © CEA
CERN, an antimatter factory
We have been trying to show this experimentally for decades. SaranSaranEspecially by rapidly synthesizing and observing antiprotons and antiatomsHydrogenHydrogen That they form. BinderBinder to the anti-electron. But we should be able to trap and separate these antiparticles. Electric fieldsElectric fields And magnetic because they annihilate in contact with their twin of the everyday world.
However, as noted in a recent press release from Cern ” In an antiproton decelerators At CERN, producing and capturing antiprotons is part of the daily life of the scientists who work there. ».
The press release also states that a team of researchers has taken another step to bring from fiction to reality the portable antimatter storage device that serves as the plot of Dan Brown’s famous novel, was described.was described. etc The demonsThe demons. Futura told you about this a few years ago in previous articles, some of which we’re reproducing here.
A basic presentation (Baryon-antibaryon symmetry experiment) that can also be used to hunt for dark matter particles. To get a fairly accurate French translation, click on the white rectangle at the bottom right. Then the English subtitles should appear. Then click on the nut to the right of the rectangle, then on “Subtitles” and finally on “Automatic translation”. Select “French”. © Cern
The PhysicistPhysicist wanted to develop a device, the base step, which is made of several pen webs within one. MagnetMagnet SuperconductorSuperconductor Cool withHeliumHelium liquidliquid. The base step was 1.9 m long, 0.8 m wide and 1.6 m high. It was to have a maximum weight of 1,000 kg, which would allow it to be transported with a small truck. We will then be able to transport the antiprotons to a location in the ceran that is less magnetically contaminated than other experiments in the same building.BaryonBaryon Antibaryon symmetry experiment) to make more precise measurements on the properties of antiprotons or hydrogen antiatoms, such as their intrinsic magnetic moment in the case of antiprotons or the way these antiatoms fall in a gravitational field, searching for a new The bodyThe body.
The device in question is based on the technology and achievements already achieved by members of the twenty collaborations at CERN, which have already broken numerous records in the field of antimatter research. He was the first to hold it for more than a year. These were antiprotons stored in a pinning trap (see video above) that holds the particles in place through electric and magnetic fields, the antiproton coming from another machine, the Antiproton Decelerator (AD ) from Cern to be exact. .
The trap, which allows the study of isolated particles and which won its developer, Hans-Georg Dehmelt, the Nobel Prize in Physics, can also act as a reservoir containing about 10 million antiprotons. are
70 protons in a portable magnetic bottle
On October 24, 2024, the team took a big step toward that goal the cloudthe cloud 70 protons at the main CERN site, as announced in a press release from the European laboratory that includes numerous statements from the physicists and engineers involved.
” If we can do it with protons, we can do it with antiprotons. The only difference is that for antiprotons we would need a more efficient vacuum chamber. “, says Christian Samora, Head of the Base Step Project (which can be seen in the video TwitterTwitter), while Stephen Ulmer, PortPort– Speakers of twenty years experience state that “ The accelerator equipment in the antiproton decelerator hall creates fluctuations in it Magnetic fieldMagnetic field which limit the accuracy of the measurement. If we want to gain a better understanding of the fundamental properties of the antiproton, we need to move. ».
” One day, we would like to be able to transfer antimatter to our precision laboratories at Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, which would allow us to study antimatter with at least 100 times greater precision. In the long term, we want to be able to transport antimatter to any laboratory in Europe, which means we need a generator in a truck. We are currently studying the possibilities. », Christian Samora.
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CERN, an antimatter bomb factory?
In theory, it would therefore soon be possible to make an antimatter bomb in ceran, as in Dan Brown’s novel, angels and demons, From which the film was made. But they will be wet squibs, as the European laboratory clearly explains on its site, because antiprotons are very difficult to produce and capture.
The process used with CERN accelerators for decades actually has a ridiculously low efficiency because the energy stored in the mass of the antiproton represents only one-tenth of a million.-10) of energy expended and, if all the antiprotons created in the nucleus since then were indeed annihilated with protons, the energy gained would be enough to light an electric light bulb for just a few minutes. It will be enough. So it would take billions of years for CERN to develop an antimatter bomb with the same destructive potential as a hydrogen bomb.
This task is not easy, because as the researcher always explains:
” When transported by land, our trap system is subject to acceleration. The vibrationThe vibrationand laboratory experiments are not usually conducted for such transport. We needed to create a trap system that was strong enough to withstand these forces, and now we are trying it for the first time. »
However, there is a problem that has little to do with physics, travel time and traffic jam constraints!
In fact, the device uses liquid helium to cool down to temperatures below 8.2. KelvinsKelvins A powerful superconducting magnet. “ If the path is too long, the magnetic field will disappear and the trapped particles will be ejected and disappear as they come into contact with normal matter. », acknowledges the CERN press release which concludes by mentioning the fact that “ Another experiment, called Puma, is working on a transportable net. Next year, it plans to transport antiprotons 600 meters from the antiproton decelerator hall to the Isolde facility, with the aim of using the latter to study the properties and structure of atomic nuclei. A foreignerA foreigner ».
