Stability of Matter-Antimatter Molecules

Journal Article · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Annals of Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2011.04.014· OSTI ID:1016052

Wong, Cheuk-Yin ^[1]; Lee, Teck-Ghee ^[2]

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1. ORNL
2. Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama

We examine the stability of matter-antimatter molecules by reducing the four-body problem into a simpler two-body problem with residual interactions. We find that matter-antimatter molecules with constituents (m{sub 1}{sup +}, m{sub 2}{sup -}, {bar m}{sub 2}{sup +}, {bar m}{sub 1}{sup -}) possess bound states if their constituent mass ratio m{sub 1}/m{sub 2} is greater than about 4. This stability condition suggests that the binding of matter-antimatter molecules is a rather common phenomenon. We evaluate the binding energies and eigenstates of matter-antimatter molecules ({mu}{sup +}e{sup 0})-(e{sup +}{mu}{sup -}), ({pi}{sup +}e{sup -})-(e{sup +}{pi}{sup -}), (K{sup +}e{sup -})-(e{sup +}K{sup -}), (pe{sup -})-(e{sup +}{bar p}), (p{mu}{sup -})-({mu}{sup +}{bar p}), and (K{sup +}{mu}{sup -})-({mu}{sup +}K{sup -}), which satisfy the stability condition. We estimate the molecular annihilation lifetimes in their s states.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1016052
• Journal Information: Annals of Physics, Vol. 326, Issue 8; ISSN 0003-4916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ANNIHILATION
BOUND STATE
EIGENSTATES
FOUR-BODY PROBLEM
RESIDUAL INTERACTIONS
S STATES
STABILITY
TWO-BODY PROBLEM
four-body problem
matter-antimatter molecules
particle-antiparticle molecules