An antihydrogen atom is released from the ALPHA experiment’s magnetic trap after 1,000 seconds in this illustration. The squiggly line represents the atom’s path in the contraption while it is trapped. The curved tracks emerging represent the annihilation products that result from the released antihydrogen hitting normal matter in the inner wall of the trap. CERN/ALPHA
In August’s article “Understanding antimatter,” author Alexander Hellemans explains what antimatter is, overviews its discovery history, and writes why it’s important to learn more about this missing material. In order to study it, however, physicists need to find it — or create it. And creating it is exactly what they’re doing.
