BATAVIA, Ill. - April 11, 2006 (UPI) -- Scientists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., say they've measured the rapid transitions between matter and anti-matter.
The researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy facility said it's been known for 50 years that very special species of subatomic particles can make spontaneous transitions between matter and antimatter. In the new research, physicists measured the rate of those matter-antimatter transitions at 3 trillion times per second.
"Exploration of the anti-world's mysteries is a crucial step towards our understanding of the early universe, and how we came to be," said Raymond Orbach, director of the DOE's Office of Science.
Scientists hope that by assembling a large number of precise measurements involving the exotic behavior of the particles, they can begin to understand why they exist, how they interact with one another and what role they played in the development of the early universe.
Although none of the particles exist in nature today, the particles were present in great abundance in the early universe. Scientists can only study them by the use of large particle accelerators.
Copyright 2006 United Press International
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