Re: Science Mag's top 125 unanswered questions



Sam Wormley wrote:
> Science Mag's top 125 unanswered questions
> http://www.sciencemag.org/sciext/125th/
>
> THE QUESTIONS
> The Top 25
> Essays by our news staff on 25 big questions facing science over the next
> quarter-century.
>
> . . .
>
> Why is there more matter than antimatter?
> To a particle physicist, matter and antimatter are almost the same. Some
> subtle difference must explain why matter is common and antimatter rare.
>

Is antimatter really rare? Observationally yes, but actually????

There are known asymmetries between matter and antimatter, see:
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/99/990301.ktev.shtml

What if, due to these asymmetries, antimatter nucleons will not fuse
into higher order nuclei? Has either anti-deuterium or an anti-alpha
particle ever been observed? If antimatter is unable to fuse there
would be no antimatter stars (stellar mass objects yes), no antimatter
"metals" (astro-definition), no antimatter planets. All that would
exist would be antimatter stellar massed objects, antineutron stars,
black holes formed from antimater and diffuse anti-hydrogen.

Since there are no fusion reactions to support them, stellar massed
objects would quickly collapse, after exhausting their residual thermal
energy, into massive brown dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.
There would be no anti-planets because hydrogen, by itself, will not
congeal into substellar masses. Heavier less volatile elements are
needed to serve as planetary nuclei.

Due to it's rapid proclivity toward gravitational collapse perhaps
most of the central galactic black holes were formed by the leftover
antimatter.

Asside from energetic cosmic rays one would not expect to see much
interstellar anti-hydrogen locally because the solar wind would blow it
away. Beyond the heliopause it may be a different matter.

Given the above scenario, there still needs to be a segregation
mechanism to separate matter from anti-matter so that sizable
accumulations of one or the other could exist.

Fun speculations.

-Bruce bbowen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Matter/anti-matter asymmetry
    ... distant parts of the universe are made of antimatter. ... That sets a lower limit to how far away the antimatter would have to ... will mean that the asymmetry observed is caused by matter itself. ... NASA was desperate to find some "science" to do ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Eotvos: Une questionne pour le Oncle du Al
    ... You might be right about scale and antimatter verses matter has got to ... our universe, without all the violations that are now so relied on to be ... has some residual anti gravity or what works like an anti gravity ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Gravitation at Angstrom scales
    ... > you the equivalence principle for matter. ... Case 3 says the mass has positive ... > the gravitational polarity of antimatter. ... > be to stop people from comparing gravity to electricity. ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: How do we know antimatter has POSITIVE mass?
    ... | QFT both suggest that like matter, antimatter has positive energy. ... acceleration due to a gravity of a negative ...
    (sci.physics)
  • Re: Gravitation at Angstrom scales
    ... >> you the equivalence principle for matter. ... gravitational mass and a negative inertial mass. ... If antimatter does have antigravity properties, ... >> be to stop people from comparing gravity to electricity. ...
    (sci.physics)