You need JavaScript to view this

Particle-antiparticle symmetry violation and our existence

Abstract

Full text: We humans love symmetry. So it surprises many of us to learn that a particle and its antiparticle do not always behave in quite the same way. Nor do they behave in precisely mirror-image ways. This breaking of particle-antiparticle symmetry is known as CP (Charge conjugation x Parity) violation. For decades, it was observed only as a tiny effect in the decays of certain elementary particles. However, it has now been shown to be a very large effect in other decays that involve a greater variety of quarks. Recently-started and planned experiments will hunt for the origin of the observed CP violation in quark processes. Other experiments will try to see whether the leptons-the electron and its heavier cousins and the neutrinos-also violate CP. Our existence depends on the fact that, as our universe evolved, it became a world where there is more matter than antimatter. This asymmetry in our present-day universe could not have arisen unless the forces of nature violated CP. Hopefully, the coming laboratory experiments on CP violation, and related theoretical analyses, will help us to understand how CP violation in the early universe led to the present preponderance of matter over antimatter, making our  More>>
Authors:
Kayser, B [1] 
  1. Fermi National Laboratory, Illinois (United States)
Publication Date:
Jul 01, 2002
Product Type:
Conference
Resource Relation:
Conference: 15. Biennial Congress of the Australian Institute of Physics. Physics and industry working together, Sydney, NSW (Australia), 8-11 Jul 2002; Other Information: PBD: 2002; Related Information: In: 15th Biennial Congress of the Australian Institute of Physics incorporating Australian Conference of Optical Fibre Technology (ACOFT) and Australian Optical Society (AOS). Handbook and abstracts, 235 pages.
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; ANTIPARTICLES; ASYMMETRY; CP INVARIANCE; DECAY; ELECTRONS; LEPTONS; NEUTRINOS; PARITY; QUARKS; SYMMETRY; SYMMETRY BREAKING
OSTI ID:
20619735
Research Organizations:
Australian Institute of Physics (Australia)
Country of Origin:
Australia
Language:
English
Other Identifying Numbers:
TRN: AU0524413063385
Availability:
Available in abstract form only, full text entered in this record
Submitting Site:
INIS
Size:
page(s) 52
Announcement Date:
Aug 28, 2005

Citation Formats

Kayser, B. Particle-antiparticle symmetry violation and our existence. Australia: N. p., 2002. Web.
Kayser, B. Particle-antiparticle symmetry violation and our existence. Australia.
Kayser, B. 2002. "Particle-antiparticle symmetry violation and our existence." Australia.
@misc{etde_20619735,
title = {Particle-antiparticle symmetry violation and our existence}
author = {Kayser, B}
abstractNote = {Full text: We humans love symmetry. So it surprises many of us to learn that a particle and its antiparticle do not always behave in quite the same way. Nor do they behave in precisely mirror-image ways. This breaking of particle-antiparticle symmetry is known as CP (Charge conjugation x Parity) violation. For decades, it was observed only as a tiny effect in the decays of certain elementary particles. However, it has now been shown to be a very large effect in other decays that involve a greater variety of quarks. Recently-started and planned experiments will hunt for the origin of the observed CP violation in quark processes. Other experiments will try to see whether the leptons-the electron and its heavier cousins and the neutrinos-also violate CP. Our existence depends on the fact that, as our universe evolved, it became a world where there is more matter than antimatter. This asymmetry in our present-day universe could not have arisen unless the forces of nature violated CP. Hopefully, the coming laboratory experiments on CP violation, and related theoretical analyses, will help us to understand how CP violation in the early universe led to the present preponderance of matter over antimatter, making our existence possible.}
place = {Australia}
year = {2002}
month = {Jul}
}