Matter and antimatter must interchangible

In summary, when matter and antimatter are combined, they annihilate because of conservation laws like charge and momentum. This can be proven by QED, where an electron and positron can be transformed into a photon. However, in the presence of matter, a single photon can turn into a pair, leading to the conversion of matter into antimatter and vice versa. This is the basis of antimatter and its ability to be converted into pure energy.
  • #36
FZ+ said:
I don't think that is the general consensus. The general consensus - right now - is that there were equal amounts of antimatter and matter, but that symmetry is broken between the two - ie. antimatter is not exactly the same as matter, and for some reason, in our universe, decays a little more quickly. This is what leads to the imbalance. This, if I remember correctly, is borne out in a number of experiments which have illustrated broken symmetry, though results are not yet conclusive, since the effects observed do not fully account for the size of the imbalance.

Also, antimatter/matter imbalance is different from charge conservation. 1 proton + 1 antiproton -> 1 proton + 1 electron conserves charge, but still breaks the standard model.

I see. Thanks for clearing that up. :shy:
It's not that there was more antimatter, it just decays (into?) quicker.
And there might have been simply a symmetry imbalance, not a charge imbalance.
 
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  • #37
I don't know enough about astro-physics, but after reading some stuff on this subject of anti-matter, it just came to me that if assuming Einstein's theory of space-time and his analogy of gravity to a trampoline (I would say blanket) and curved space...can't the universe be sitting on anti-matter and that is exactly what we feel as gravity.

Someone please set me straight. Thanks.
 

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