Antimatter
The Ultimate Mirror

A fast-paced and lucid account of how science fiction became fact.

Gordon Fraser (Author)

9780521893091, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 7 March 2002

224 pages, 34 b/w illus.
23.4 x 15.6 x 1.2 cm, 0.32 kg

'This book introduced the Lewis Carroll world of antimatter … this is a fast-paced and lucid account of how science fiction became fact.' Physics Courier

In 1928 the physicist Paul Dirac predicted the existence of antimatter in a mirror world, where the electrical charges on particles would be opposite to those of ordinary matter. This mirror world is found, fleetingly, at the quantum level, with positrons the counterpart of electrons, and antiprotons the opposite of protons. This book introduces the world of antimatter without using technical language or equations. The author shows how the quest for symmetry in physics slowly revealed the properties of antimatter. When large particle accelerators came on line, the antimatter debris of collisions provided new clues on its properties. This is a fast-paced and lucid account of how science fiction became fact.

1. Science fiction becomes science fact
2. Mirror worlds
3. An imbalanced kit of electrical parts
4. The quantum master
5. Positive proof
6. The back passage of time
7. The quark and the antiquark
8. Broken mirrors
9. The cosmic corkscrew
10. Antiparticle collision course
11. Setting a trap for antimatter
12. Glue versus antichemistry
13. Antimatter in action
14. Antimatter of the utmost gravity.

Subject Areas: Physics [PH], Popular science [PDZ]