Thee concept of antimatter is a result of explanation of past theories, explicitly showing the building process of science. The idea of antimatter is largely based on work by Albert Einstein and Max Planck. In 1905, Albert Einstein delivered his theory of Special Relativity. The equation E = mc^2, defining a relationship between mass and energy, came from this theory. Max Planck researched the qualities of light. Planck theorized that light possessed qualities of waves and particles, and that it should be classified differently. He believed that light is in the form of a packet, which he called a quantum for the wave/particle duality. Erwin Schrodinger and Werner Heisenberg continued experimenting in the 1920's with the wave/particle duality. They developed a new quantum theory for physics. However, the new theory was not able to be applied to fast, relativistic motion that was near the speed of light.
From this perplexity, the knowledge of antimatter was born.
The Physics of Star Trek
antimatter at caffè letterario 13
antimatter at caffè letterario 11In 1928, Paul Dirac completed his work on the combination of the quantum theory and theory of relativity. He incorporated the two theories to produce his own equation, which explained the behavior of an election. Dirac was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1933 for his Dirac equation. Dirac's equation provided for two possible answers, introducing the notion of negative electron states. Negative electron states translated to antiparticles.
When energy is transformed into matter through pair production, a pair of particles is produced: the particle and its antiparticle. Energy transforms into one of the three particles which are electrons, protons, and neutrons. The particle and antiparticle have equal mass, but a different charge and different magnetic moments. This process of creating a particle and antiparticle is called Charge conjugation. The opposite of this process, combining the particle and antiparticle to create energy, is called...