Exploring Antimatter: New Energy for Future Interstellar Travel

Scientists believe that after the Big Bang, two universes were formed, one positive and one negative, like two symmetrical wings. The positive matter universe is the universe we live in now, and the antimatter universe has not yet been found. It can be said that the antimatter universe is an invisible and intangible world measured by the current level of human technology. So does antimatter exist? Scientists have not found direct evidence. But scientists have created many antiparticles, which seems to confirm the existence of antimatter from the side.

How should we understand the brain-burning antimatter? Let's take Xiao Ming looking in the mirror as an example. If the figure in the mirror really exists and appears in front of Xiao Ming, we can call him "Anti-Xiao Ming". According to scientists' ideas, there is such a magical place, which is composed entirely of anti-food, anti-buildings, anti-stars, etc., and is called the antimatter world.

As we all know, the composition of matter is subdivided into molecules, atoms, and particles, and particles include electrons, protons, neutrons, etc. According to the "equivalent vacuum theory" in physics, these particles also correspond to antiparticles with opposite properties, such as anti-electrons, anti-protons, anti-neutrons, etc.

Based on antiparticles, scientists proposed the concept of "antimatter", and then extended it to the antimatter universe. According to the antiparticle theory, scientists built an electron-positron collider and obtained anti-electrons, and soon created antiprotons and antineutrons.

Since positive and negative are opposites, if positive particles and antiparticles collide, they will "perish together", a phenomenon scientists call "annihilation". However, after the Big Bang, matter still exists today, but where did antimatter go?

Some people believe that, based on astronomical observations and scientific calculations, the space within about 100 million light years from the Earth is composed of positive matter, and there is no antimatter. But if this is true, then when antimatter gradually approaches the positive matter world, wouldn't the world we live in face of a catastrophe? This hypothesis has also become the source of ideas for some science fiction works.

According to quantum mechanics, energy is conserved. Since matter was produced after the Big Bang, "equal" antimatter must also be produced. So how do we find antimatter in the universe?

Scientists have tried many ways to find antimatter, but apart from discovering a small amount of antiparticles, they have not made much progress. One reason is that the light emitted by antimatter and matter should be the same, so it is difficult to find antimatter from the spectrum.

Even so, the application value of antiparticles is still very great. Currently, there is a technology based on the principle of antiparticles that is widely used in the medical field, that is, positron tomography. Compared with other methods, it can help doctors understand the patient's subtle lesions more clearly.

In fact, medical treatment is just a small test of the application value of antimatter. Faced with the increasingly depleted resources on Earth, humans are in urgent need of finding new energy sources, and antimatter is generally favored by scientists. In theory, the energy contained in antimatter is very huge. When manufacturing interstellar rockets, hundreds or thousands of tons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants are usually required, but if antimatter is used instead, only 0.01 grams is enough! Because the process of hydrogen and antihydrogen mixing and annihilation will release amazing energy, far exceeding the nuclear energy at the atomic level.

So far, scientists have not discovered antimatter, but the discovery and application of antiparticles have inspired scientists. With the advancement of technology, it is believed that the discovery of antimatter is not far away.