One of the great mysteries of contemporary physics and cosmology is how to explain the fact that there should be as much anti-matter as matter in the universe — but apparently isn’t. As explained by cosmologists at Australian National University:
Why is it, that wherever we look in the universe, we observe the presence of a substantially higher proportion of matter than we do antimatter!?
This problem is formally known as Baryon Asymmetry, which refers to the fact that there is an imbalance of baryonic matter and antibaryonic matter in the observable universe (in other words, an imbalance of matter and antimatter). Neither general relativity nor the standard model of particle physics can explain this phenomenon, as it is currently a natural assumption that the universe be neutral with all conserved charges. By prevailing theory, the Big Bang should have produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter. Since this does not appear to be the case in any observed portion of the universe, it is likely that some physical laws must have acted differently for matter and antimatter (breaking the current model of symmetry relating to these two bodies, formally known as CP or charge parity symmetry). [1]
New research on neutrinos — one of the hottest areas of present-day particle physics — suggests progress in resolving this major cosmological mystery:
Neutrinos and antineutrinos, sometimes called ghost particles because difficult to detect, can transform from one type to another. The international T2K Collaboration announces a first indication that the dominance of matter over antimatter may originate from the fact that neutrinos and antineutrinos behave differently during those oscillations. This is an important milestone towards the understanding of our Universe….
The Universe is primarily made of matter and the apparent lack of antimatter is one of the most intriguing questions of today’s science. The T2K collaboration, with participation of the group of the University of Bern, announced…in a colloquium held at the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in Tsukuba, Japan, that it found indication that the symmetry between matter and antimatter (so called “CP-Symmetry”) is violated for neutrinos with 95% probability….
This is a first indication that the symmetry between matter and antimatter is violated in neutrino oscillations and therefore neutrinos also play a role in the creation of the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe….
This result is among the most important findings in neutrino physics over the last years”, said Prof. Antonio Ereditato, director of the Laboratory of High Energy Physics of the University of Bern and leader of the Bern T2K group, “and it is opening the way to even more exciting achievements, pointing to the existence of a tiny but measurable effect”. Ereditato added: “Nature seems to indicate that neutrinos can be responsible for the observed supremacy of matter over antimatter in the Universe. What we measured justifies our current efforts in preparing the next scientific enterprise, DUNE, the ultimate neutrino detector in USA, which should allow reaching a definitive discovery. [2, 3]
References:
[1] Australian National University cosmologists
[2] Neutrinos, antimatter, Univ. of Bern
[3] DUNE report from Los Alamos
Click here to go to the previous Founders Broadsheet post (“Obama admin hid N Korea weapons advance from public”)
Leave a Reply