Prof.dr Ing. J.F.J van den Brand, Sep. 2006  – 23
Wat is antimaterie?
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Elektronen en positronen annihileren en produceren g-straling (energie)
E = mc2
ŸDeze beroemde vergelijking zegt dat energie en materie equivalent zijn, waarmee energie getransformeerd kan worden naar materie en vica versa.
The simplest way to describe antimatter is in terms of its behaviour - when particle and antiparticle meet they annihilate and their mass is turned into energy in the form of g-rays, also called photons.
This process is governed by the second and last equation you will see this evening, and surely known to the whole audience - Einstein’s famous equation E=mc2.
Not only is this true for electrons and positrons, it also occurs for quarks and anti-quarks and more complicated objects like protons and anti-protons. You would also be in trouble if you met your anti-you.
However this possibility is still someway off; it was not until 1996 that anti-hydrogen, the simplest anti-atom was produced.