SfC Home > Physical Science >

Reader questions and feedback on physical science. Also refer to physics, chemistry, astronomy, electricity, magnetism, electromagnet, light, sound, waves, forces, work, energy, friction, heat, thermodynamics, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions

Answers to Readers' Questions on Physical Science:

Antimatter

The following 2 comments and questions have been sent in. They are listed according to date.

List of first 10 items

• Can anitmatter move faster than light?
• Does anti-gravity exist?

Next 10

Can anitmatter move faster than light?

Question

August 27, 2008

Try this on. Could antimatter be traveling faster than the speed of light? C. Lineweaver postulates that the universe is expanding faster than speed of light. If so, antimatter would be going backward in time and thus in an opposite direction to matter. Could there be an interface in space between matter and antimatter at the boundary of light speed since the big bang? Could gamma ray bursts be the result of a contact of a matter to antimatter star? Please respond!

Dr. Eugene Levinson - USA

16420

Answer

The common definition of antimatter is matter that has an opposite electric charge and perhaps an opposite spin direction of a particle, such as the electron and positron. When they collide, they change into electromagnetic radiation in the form of gamma rays or gamma photons.

But this whole concept of the duality of matter, could be extended to a duality of energy and time.

Light travels as photon particles. Are there anti-photons that would react with photons?

Is it possible that there is an anti-time, such that some particles can travel back in time?

There are theories about dark matter and dark energy. Are they some form of anti-energy?

Charles Lineweaver's theory about the universe expanding faster than the speed of light seems to concern the curvature or distortion of space. It is a difficult concept to understand.

This topic is certainly food for thought.

Back to top

Does anti-gravity exist?

Question

February 27, 2008

I was reading articles about the "Big Bang Theory". They were discussing the ratio of matter to anti-matter, in theory and estimation of course, in the article being 1,000,000 parts matter to 1 part anti-matter. Is there an update on this at all? I also have another question about the article that I just read. You were discussing the possibility of gravity and anti-gravity. I am assuming that you are referring to the possibility that gravitons/anti-gravitons possibly exist. Where would I go to seek the most up-to-date information on that subject in complete detail? Thank you for your time.

Shawn - USA

15445

Answer

Supposedly, the world should be balanced with the same number of matter and antimatter particles, but for some reason it is not experienced in our part of the Universe. A possible explanation is that other parts of the Universe consist of anti-matter, with very little matter, or that there is another "anti-universe" that is just the opposite of ours.

New theories of dark matter and dark energy may help to explain this.

Gravity waves have been measured, so the assumption from the wave-particle duality theory is that the graviton particle exists. And that would mean that its anti-particle also exists.

See: http://www.gravitycontrol.org/gravitycontrol.html for more information on anti-gravity.

Back to top

Next 10

Summary

Hopefully, this reader feedback has helped provide information about Science issues.

Resources

The following are some resources on this topic.

Websites

Science Resources

Books

Top-rated books on Physical Science

Miscellaneous

What do you think?

Do you have any questions, comments, or opinions on this subject? If so, send an email with your feedback. We will try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Feel free to establish a link from your website to pages in this site.

Where can you go from here?

School for Champions

Physical Science Topics

Answers to Readers' Questions