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Could experimental production of subatomic particles cause destructon of matter?

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  • Asked by jt31
  • on 2010-06-23 21:57:31
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Categories: Our universe.

Tags: higgsboson.

 

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JimL status says:

There are a couple of ways to interpret your question.

Certainly, the production of at least some well known and understood particles does already result in the destruction of matter.  For example one can produce positrons, the anti-particle of the electron.  Upon colliding, both particles are converted into energy (in this case, into gamma rays).  All normal particles of matter have their anti-matter equivalents and will behave this way.

Perhaps you are refering to what's called strange matter, or strangelets.  This is a hypothetical form of matter that might (if theory is correct) cause normal matter to be converted into strange matter on contact.  Normal matter is composed of atomic nuclei having protons and neutrons, and these in turn are composed of triplets of up quarks and down quarks.  But there are other kinds of quarks, among them the strange quark.  It would indeed be trouble for us all if normal matter spontaneously converted to strange matter in the mere presence of a bit of the latter.  Luckily, there is no observational data to support the hypothesis, both in particle accelerators and in astronomical (cosmological) data.

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posted on 2010-06-26 22:56:11 | Report abuse


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