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A Frontier of Great Potential
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16606 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
11 / 1989 |
2,281 Words |
| Author
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Theodore E. Kalogeropoulos
Theodore E. Kalogeropoulos is a professor of physics at
Syracuse University. He has been doing basic research with
low-energy antiprotons for more than thirty years. |
A century ago, in 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen was experimenting with high-voltage electrical discharges and stumbled on a new type of penetrating radiation, which he named X rays. Soon after, he made a photograph of his wife's hand showing the internal bone structure for the first time. It took about 20 years to establish the nature of X rays as electromagnetic waves with wavelengths comparable to atomic dimensions.
The contribution of X rays to science and technology can hardly be overstated. They provided the means for crucial experiments establishing quantum mechanics and continue to be used to study atomic structure, which, among other things, led to the celebrated discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA. Their contributions to disease diagnosis and cancer treatment remain unique and are still in the mainstream with recent advances such as CAT scans and angiography.
X-ray applications will be with us for the foreseeable future because of their unique intrinsic properties and accessibility. Is there any other "particle" that can significantly improve upon X-ray applications and, more importantly, open new horizons? Computer studies show that the antiproton is such a particle. Researchers familiar with its properties envision that it will have an impact on science and technology in the next century comparable to that of the X ray in the present one. This vision is based on the known properties of the antiproton, its relevance to physics, and the state of technology. To exploit this potential, a vigorous research and development program should be initiated as an extension to an existing high-energy accelerator.
Antimatter: Not Fiction
Paul Dirac of Cambridge introduced Einstein's special theory of relativity into quantum mechanics in 1929, creating an equation known today by his name. To his surprise, the equation had two solutions. One of them, having positive energy, depended upon the electron, while the other, with negative energy, was thought to depend upon the proton. It took 25 years to interpret these solutions correctly and to investigate their consequences, a fascinating chapter in physics during which antimatter was identified and incorporated as an integral component of physics.
While studying cosmic rays at Caltech in 1932,Carl Anderson observed a positively charged electron, which he called the positron. Physicists soon realized that the positron was the antiparticle of the electron. Electron and
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