ALICE precisely compares light nuclei and antinuclei

17 augustus 2015

The ALICE experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has confirmed and put new, 10 to a 100 times better, constraints on the fundamental symmetry known as CPT for light nuclei and antinuclei. This result was published today in Nature Physics (10.1038/nphys3432).The CPT symmetry of nature implies that all of the laws of physics are the same under the simultaneous reversal of charges (charge conjugation C), reflection of spatial coordinates (parity transformation P) and time inversion (T). If this symmetry would be broken it would automatically indicate that also Lorentz invariance is violated and it would provide a possibility to understand why there is currently more matter than antimatter in the universe.

Heavy-ion collisions at the LHC recreate the properties of the early universe, were copious amounts of matter and antimatter are created. The ALICE experiment is uniquely suited to measure the nuclei and antinuclei created in this hot and dense primordial soup, and test this fundamental CPT symmetry with a precise measurement of the difference between their mass and electric charge ratios.

“It is great to see that with the unique capabilities of ALICE we can study at the LHC the properties of the enigmatic matter which permeated the early universe and in addition can put new constraints on this fundamental CPT symmetry” says Raimond Snellings, Programme Leader ALICE at Nikhef.

Lees hier het originele persbericht van CERN.

Voor meer informatie:
Prof. Dr. Raimond Snellings, programmaleider ALICE – mail – 020 5922178
Afdeling Wetenschapscommunicatie – mail – 020-5925075