Gravity and antimatter

Journal Article · Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Scientific American; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0388-48· OSTI ID:7132740

Goldman, T; Hughes, R J; Nieto, M M

No one has ever dropped a single particle of antimatter. Yet physicists assume that it would fall to the ground just like ordinary matter. Their arguments are based on two well established ideas: the equivalence principle of gravitation and the quantum-mechanical symmetry between matter and antimatter. Today this line of reasoning is being undermined by the possibility that the first of these ideas, the principle of equivalence, may not be true. Indeed all modern attempts to include gravity with the other forces of nature in a consistent, unified quantum theory predict the existence of new gravitational-strength forces, that among other things, will violate the principle. Such effects have been seen already in recent experiments. Hence, an experiment to measure the gravitational acceleration of antimatter could be of great importance to the understanding of quantum gravity. An international team has been formed to measure the graviational acceleration of antiprotons. Such an experiment would provide an unambiquous test, if new gravitational interactions do exist. 10 figs.

• OSTI ID: 7132740
• Journal Information: Scientific American; (USA), Vol. 258:3; ISSN 0036-8733
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANTIMATTER
GRAVITATION
ACCELERATION
ANTIPROTONS
CLASSICAL MECHANICS
CPT THEOREM
EQUIVALENCE PRINCIPLE
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTIONS
MASS
QUANTUM GRAVITY
QUANTUM MECHANICS
UNIFIED-FIELD THEORIES
ANTIBARYONS
ANTINUCLEI
ANTINUCLEONS
ANTIPARTICLES
BARYONS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
HADRONS
INTERACTIONS
INVARIANCE PRINCIPLES
MECHANICS
NUCLEI
NUCLEONS
QUANTUM FIELD THEORY
657003* - Theoretical & Mathematical Physics- Relativity & Gravitation
645400 - High Energy Physics- Field Theory