Antimatter Research: Bane or Boon - Essay Example

ANTIMATTER Antimatter research: Bane or Boon History and Scientific Development The mystery surrounding antimatter is due to the fact that scientistsbelieve that when the universe began in a Big Bang it had equal amounts of both matter and antimatter, however, today all the antimatter has somehow seemed to have disappeared. The history of antimatter begins with a young physicist named Paul Dirac and the strange implications of a mathematical equation, which combined quantum theory and special relativity (E=mc2), to describe the behavior of the electron. Dirac's equation could have two solutions, one for an electron with positive energy, and one for an electron with negative energy. Dirac interpreted this to mean that for every particle that exists there is a corresponding antiparticle, exactly matching the particle but with opposite charge. For the electron, for instance, there should be an "antielectron" identical in every way but with a positive electric charge. In his Nobel Lecture, Dirac speculated on the existence of a completely new Universe made out of antimatter! (The History of antimatter, 2001) In 1932 Carl Anderson, a young professor at the California Institute of Technology, while studying showers of cosmic particles in a cloud chamber discovered antielectron, He called the antielectron a "positron", for its positive charge. After almost 25 years in the year 1955, antiprotons were discovered followed by antineutrons in 1959. In 1965, a unique machine at CERN (Conseil Europen pour la Recherche Nuclaire), a European organization for nuclear research called Low Energy Antiproton Ring (LEAR) was used to successfully produce antihydrogen atom, which is a real a real antimatter atom. The idea behind this is to trap these antihydrogen atoms by first slowing them down and then carry out accurate comparisons of properties of hydrogen and antihydrogen particles. "Matter and antimatter are perfect opposites. So perfect, in fact, that when the meet they annihilate leaving behind a flash of pure energy. Nothing else remains; antimatter annihilation is the ultimate clean source of energy. It is the perfect conversion of mass (m) into energy (E) according to Einstein's famous prescription E= mc2, where c is the speed of light. The problem is, however, that antimatter cannot simply be harvested or mined. It has to be made, and making it requires vastly more energy than annihilating it produces. All the antimatter produced at CERN in a year would provide barely enough energy to power a light bulb for a few seconds." (Gordon Fraser) Antimatter Applications Antimatter may be the stuff of science fiction but at laboratories like CERN it is a commonplace tool for research. In hospitals and industry too, antimatter is in everyday use for diagnosis. Positron Emission Tomography, PET, for example relies on antimatter. It works by attaching radioactive atoms that emit positrons - anti-electrons - to biological tracer molecules that find their way to specific areas of the body. When the radioactive atoms decay the positrons they emit immediately annihilate with electrons and the resulting flash of energy appears in the form of two gamma-rays of equal energy. These escape from the body back-to-back and are detected, allowing doctors to follow what happens to the biological tracer molecules and thus learn valuable information about the workings of the body. (Antimatter Decelerator, 2008). Negative and Positive sides of Antimatter The 1980s US Strategic Defense Initiative program (better known as 'Star Wars') included several projects which looked at the possibility of using antimatter as rocket fuel or to drive space-borne weapons platforms. (Gordon Fraser) Antimatter, converting all its mass into energy, is the ultimate fuel. However first the antimatter would have to be manufactured - there is no 'mine' of antimatter. (Gordon Fraser) Antimatter is difficult to produce - all the antiprotons produced at CERN during one year would supply enough energy to light a 100 watt electric bulb for three seconds! (Gordon Fraser) In terms of the energy put in to produce high energy proton beams and store them, the efficiency of the antimatter energy production process would be 0.00000001%. Even the steam engine is millions of times more efficient! (Gordon Fraser) Since the collision of matter and antimatter results in annihilation, that is pure form of energy, antimatter can be used for the production of high amounts of energy, which can be used for generating electricity, in fast moving space ships, as demonstrated in the science fiction "Star Trek". This might be possible in principle but in reality, in line with the current technology antimatter is difficult to produce and it may take millions of years to produce sufficient amounts to be used as a fuel. The other side of the story can be that these high amounts of energy can be used to create bombs or weapons etc, which obviously cannot be justified, however the military aspect of antimatter has the same limitations as the spaceship. It is also believed that antimatter exists somewhere in the universe but according to NASA; experiments to detect antimatter would estimate around $1.5 billion which is too high a cost for NASA to incur. Also if we count on the production CERN has done over the last 10 years (about 1 billionth of a gram), it has cost a few hundred million Swiss francs. ( Alvaro de Rjula and Rolf Landua) Current Scenario Although, certain limitations have been pointed out above for the use of Antimatter, and it may take years to produce sufficient amount of antimatter to serve out purpose, one cannot deny the face that when matter and antimatter come together energy is produced, according to Einstein's mass energy relation, E=mc2, thus proving to be the most efficient source of energy. This source of energy can be used to reduce space travel time, from years to months and even weeks. For example the recent NASA project( phoenix probe) took nine months to reach MARS, this travel time can be reduced drastically by using this source of energy. Also according to Antimatter Energy (2005), "A metric ton of antimatter could supply the World's energy needs for a year. The United States and other countries can achieve Energy Independence. The billions of tons of coal and billions of barrels of oil will be used for making products rather than burning them and destroying our environment." In this millennium,the World's Gross National Product will increase from $30 trillion to $3,000 trillion; plus the Space Economy will add $1,500 trillion. Millions of businesses will create billions of jobs. The real benefits, however, will come from taking billions of people out of poverty, giving them a World-Class education and empowering them to live out their dreams. (Antimatter Energy, 2005). Words (1096) Bibliography Gordon Fraser, ANTIMATTER DECELERATOR, Retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://ad-startup.web.cern.ch/AD-Startup/ForTeachers/ForTeachers-en.html Gordon Fraser, Antimatter Propulsion, retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/everyday/AM-everyday05.html Alvaro de Rjula and Rolf Landua, Antimatter questions & Answers, retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/FAQ.html Antimatter Energy (2005), retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.antimatterenergy.com/ Matter vs. Antimatter, 2002, retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.academon.com/lib/paper/16829.html The heart of Matter, retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://www.exploratorium.edu/origins/cern/ideas/antimatter.html The History of antimatter, 2001, retrieved May 27, 2008, from http://livefromcern.web.cern.ch/livefromcern/antimatter/history/AM-history01.html Read More