• i_love_FFT@lemmy.ml
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      It has a positive mass, and in every other way it acts just like normal matter going backwards in time (cpt inversion).

      If, despite its positive mass, it was pushed back by gravity, then it would have given even more weight to the theory that antimatter is just matter moving backwards.

      Since gravity is such a wonky interaction, I'm not even sure this result disproves the time-reversal theory entirely!

      • ryannathans@aussie.zone
        ·
        1 year ago

        Why would inverting charge make particles go backwards in time? Electrons have opposite charge to protons and they don't seem to. Positrons have the opposite charge to electrons and as far as I know they don't go backwards?

        I think you're misinterpreting cpt reversal symmetry, which is if you mirrored the universe in terms of charge, time and parity it would essentially evolve the same

        • i_love_FFT@lemmy.ml
          ·
          1 year ago

          It's been many years since I was invited with particle physics, so it's a bit muddled in my memory... i could be wrong on the details here. It could be the CP symmetry instead of the CPT symmetry.

          It's not that positrons go back in time, but more like "if an electron went backwards in time, it would look exactly like a position". The Feynman diagram of an electron and position annihilaton is the same as that of an electron bouncing on photons, expect the angle is rotated such that the electron bounces backwards in time.

          https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Feynman_EP_Annihilation.svg#mw-jump-to-license

  • AceQuorthon@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    ·
    1 year ago

    Reading stuff like this is super funny when you have absolutely no idea how any of this stuff works.

    "Wow, antimatter falls down! Gravity sure do be like that!"

  • ColorcodedResistor@lemm.ee
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    My understanding of CERN comes explicitly from Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995) and Steins Gate (2011) ...and possibly The Backrooms (2022)

    I do not have the gumption to mess with shadow companies jimmies.

    • PeWu@lemmy.ml
      ·
      1 year ago

      Steins gate was introduction to CERN for me. And it scared the shit out of me. No, thank you. You do you.

  • ProletarianDictator [none/use name]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Unsurprising really. It seems fairly apparent that gravity merely influences the geometry of the substrate in which all known forms of matter & fundamental forces operate within. Something would have to seriously be fucky for antimatter to act counter to that geometry given it is comprised of similar particles with opposite charge. I'd assume astrophysicists know this, but wanted experimental proof for what seems to be straightforward logic from things we have experimentally confirmed.

    The real question is what form does this geometry use to exert influence on the matter operating within curved spacetime? How is that information carried and how does gravity interface with that?

    • i_love_FFT@lemmy.ml
      ·
      1 year ago

      Antimatter is not just matter with an opposite charge. It's matter with every type of charges (electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear charges) inverted, as well as the "parity", that is the relative direction of its spin compared to its propagation direction, are all inverted.

      If you look for "CPT symmetry", you'll find better explanations than this.

      It basically boils down to this: invert the flow of time, and every particle will look like antimatter, while antimatter will look like normal matter.

      It would have been very likely that antimatter moved backwards in gravity of it was normal matter moving backwards in time!

        • fox [comrade/them]
          ·
          1 year ago

          There's also no real reason for there to be more matter than antimatter in the universe. Any sufficiently high energy action will produce equal amounts of matter and antimatter, but there's overwhelmingly more matter than antimatter floating around. It's one of the big questions.

      • TankieTanuki [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        invert the flow of time, and every particle will look like antimatter,

        You just wrinkled my brain.

  • makeasnek@lemmy.ml
    ·
    1 year ago

    If you think this is cool, there is a !boinc@sopuli.xyz project for the LHC (worlds largest particle accelerator) run by CERN. You can donate your computer's spare computational power and maybe find a new subatomic particle! I've been running it for years, very fun project to be involved in, no PhD required.

    • MDKAOD@lemmy.ml
      ·
      1 year ago

      A side note, with the announcement of the raspberry pi 5, there's a lot of chatter about how the pi boards are big contributors to boinc.

    • rubpoll [she/her]
      ·
      1 year ago

      In my next life I want to live my life backwards. You start out dead and get that out of the way. Then you wake up in an old people's home feeling better every day. You get kicked out for being too healthy, go collect your pension, and then when you start work, you get a gold watch and a party on your first day. You work for 40 years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You party, drink alcohol, and are generally promiscuous, then you are ready for high school. You then go to primary school, you become a kid, you play. You have no responsibilities, you become a baby until you are born. And then you spend your last 9 months floating in luxurious spa-like conditions with central heating and room service on tap, larger quarters every day and then Voila! You finish off as an orgasm!