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2026-10-24 22:02:42Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Antimatter, the particle that annihilates upon contact with matter: Scientists manage to keep it isolated for a month

Scientists have managed to keep an antimatter particle isolated for a month without allowing it to interact with ordinary matter. The breakthrough gives physicists the chance to study it more closely and could help them understand one of the greatest mysteries of the universe: why is everything around us made of matter and not antimatter?

Antimatter is similar to ordinary matter, which is what makes up humans, the Earth, and stars, but its particles have some opposite properties. For example, the electron has a negative electrical charge, while its corresponding antimatter particle, called a positron, has a positive charge.

The problem is that, when matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other and release energy.

For this reason, antimatter cannot be stored in an ordinary container, as it would be destroyed as soon as it touched its walls.

To overcome this difficulty, the researchers created a special system that keeps the particle suspended without touching any surface.

How did they manage to capture antimatter?

For the experiment, the scientists used sodium-22, a radioactive form of sodium, which during decay releases positrons, antimatter particles.

First, they passed these particles through a very thin layer of cold tungsten. As they passed through the material, the positrons lost energy and slowed down, making them easier to control.

The researchers then used electric and magnetic fields to direct the particles toward an empty space, where there were almost no other particles.

There, the positrons were kept isolated from any contact with matter. The temperature in this space was extremely low, only 0.3 degrees Celsius above absolute zero, the lowest possible temperature limit.

With this method, the physicists managed to keep a single positron for a month, creating the possibility of studying its properties in detail. According to the researchers, this technique can also be used for longer periods.

What do scientists want to discover?

Now, researchers aim to precisely measure the magnetic properties of the positron and compare them to those of the electron. In simple terms, they want to find out whether the electron and its antimatter particle behave exactly as science predicts.

According to the main theory of particle physics, both should have magnetic properties of the same magnitude, but in opposite directions.

If the measurements reveal any unexpected changes, this could give scientists an important clue to understanding the differences between matter and antimatter.

The team is led by physicist Gerald Gabrielse, from Northwestern University in the United States. The researchers have previously measured the magnetic properties of the electron with very high precision and now aim to perform the same measurement for the positron.

Why does matter predominate in the universe?

This is the main question that scientists hope to help solve through such experiments.

According to scientific theories, immediately after the Big Bang, matter and antimatter were created in almost equal amounts. When their particles met, most of them annihilated.

However, a small amount of more matter survived. It was this matter that later formed the stars, planets, galaxies, and everything that exists today.

But why did matter dominate and antimatter almost disappear? Scientists still don't have a definitive answer. Theoretical physicist Roni Harnik, from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in the US, called the breakthrough an important opportunity to test some of the fundamental principles of physics.

If future experiments reveal differences between matter and antimatter, they could help scientists better understand how the universe we know today was formed.

For now, keeping an antimatter particle isolated for a month doesn't solve this mystery, but it gives researchers a new opportunity to study it with more precision.


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