Why matter matters in the universe
Date: Saturday, March 29, 2008 @ 20:29:20 UTC Topic: Science
A new physics discovery explores why there is more matter than
antimatter in the universe. The latest research findings, which
involved significant contributions from physicists at the University of
Melbourne, have been recently published in the prestigious journal Nature.
...“Our universe is made up almost completely of
matter. While we’re entirely used to this idea, this does not agree
with our ideas of how mass and energy interact. According to these
theories there should not be enough mass to enable the formation of
stars and hence life.”...
...Sevior says that this inconsistency between the model and the universe implies there is a new principle of physics that we haven’t yet discovered.
The paper reveals that investigation into the
process of B-meson decays has given insight into why there is more
matter than antimatter in the universe.
“B-mesons are a new frontier of investigation for us and have
proved very exciting in the formation of new thought in the field of
particle physics.” said Associate Professor Martin Sevior of the
University’s School of Physics who led the research.
Sevior says that B-mesons contain heavy quarks that can only be
created in very high energy particle accelerators. Their decays provide
a powerful means of probing the exotic conditions that occurred in the
first fraction of a second after the Big Bang created the Universe.
“Our universe is made up almost completely of matter. While we’re
entirely used to this idea, this does not agree with our ideas of how
mass and energy interact. According to these theories there should not
be enough mass to enable the formation of stars and hence life.”
“In our standard model of particle physics, matter and antimatter
are almost identical. Accordingly as they mix in the early universe
they annihilate one another leaving very little to form stars and
galaxies. The model does not come close to explaining the difference
between matter and antimatter we see in the nature. The imbalance is a
trillion times bigger than the model predicts.”
Sevior says that this inconsistency between the
model and the universe implies there is a new principle of physics that
we haven’t yet discovered.
“Together with our colleagues in the Belle experiment, based at KEK
in Japan, we have produced vast numbers of B mesons with the world’s
most intense particle collider.”
“We then looked at how the B-mesons decay as opposed to how the
anti-B-mesons decay. What we find is that there are small differences
in these processes. While most of our measurements confirm predictions
of the Standard Model of Particle Physics, this new result appears to
be in disagreement.”
“It is a very exciting discovery because our paper provides a hint
as to what the new principle of physics is that led to our Universe
being able to support life.”
Source: University of Melbourne Via: http://www.physorg.com/news125919167.html
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