When I wrote about CERN’s antimatter mobility experiment, there was some talk on social media about its practicality, based on how little we can manufacture. Also, what could we do with it should we get more? While my article’s goal was to link inspiration from sci-fi to such scientific progress, I am struck by the possibility of a quantum leap in our understanding of antimatter.
If Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek could inspire vision and interest in antimatter for over half a century, is it fair to say the concept has become inspirational? I think we should not close the door on antimatter because of our current abilities to manufacture a little at significant cost?
Antimatter Breakthrough or Quantum Leap?
CERN is a leading institution in particle research, with its famed particle collider. They produce scientific papers about their work and also their findings. One experiment that caught my eye was the successful trapping of an antiproton for fifty seconds. The reported breakthrough heralds the creation of an antimatter qubit (aka. quantum bit).
What does this matter, and what does it mean for quantum technologies? We know little about the quantum realm and even less about antimatter as it currently stands. What we know, however, has conflicts–such as particles interfering with themselves. Physicists refer to this as ‘quantum decoherence’.
From Terror to Valor: Echoes and Shadows, available at your favorite digital bookstore
A key point for a proton and an anti-proton is that they have the same mass but have opposite electrical charge. They are now known to have identical symmetry when measuring the ‘magnetic moments flip’. It reflects a new level of accuracy never seen before by the scientific community. This absolute coherence is in a ‘single nuclear free magnetic moment’. This is also at odds with the common-sense understanding, which sees slight variations under observation.
Particle Cohesion and A Quantum Leap In Opportunity?
Stored in electromagnetic Penning traps, CERN’s antiprotons can move into different states via a multi-trap system, which finitely changes their spin states. The new accuracy, proven through this breakthrough experiment, allows old decoherence issues around matter and antimatter to be resolved.
It also opens up a range of new questions, including the fact that the equal presence of matter to antimatter does not equate to equal access. The experiment raises many more worthy questions, which makes great candidates for further scientific study. I wonder what opportunities will arise in quantum computing? Will a qubit capable of infinite quantum states be of interest?
Positive Meets Negative State
As our current quantum technologies center on matter-based qubits chained into a circuit, what lies ahead for quantum computing and antimatter qubits? The possibilities are many when you think about the ability to manipulate an antiproton into multiple states. How much faster can a single antimatter qubit store information?
Can an antimatter qubit circuit contribute in part, or in full, to a dispensed energy-producing state? Can we harness energy from these dispensed antimatter circuit states? What size would the antimatter construct need to be, and would it need to be bound to its matter-based counterpart? If so, can magnetism create a state variance that sheds some of that zero charge for harnessing?
Antimatter And Our Future
With collaboration, focus and understanding, the particular state of antimatter particles can deliver progress through few answers and many questions. This struggle is for those inspired by the calling of physics. They also understand particle physics is just a subset of a much grander quantum arena.
I suspect many who do so see our lives, our world, and our very existence as part of a great puzzle offered by the universe. It challenges us to know ourselves. In doing so, our inherent desire to explore is not just a matter of intelligence and DNA. The human spirit of exploration starts from within, as we find our calling in discoveries beyond what went before us.
About the Author
As I move onto my next authoring project, I will post less frequently on the real-world issues linked to my novel, From Terror to Valor: Echoes and Shadows. My next project, Hindsight Station, will initially be a progression science fiction, web-novel delivered via Patreon and eventually another web serial platform.
John is a versatile author known for his gripping fiction narratives in the thriller, action, and science fiction genres. With a background as a journalist since 2016, and expertise in cloud technologies as an engineer; John brings a unique blend of storytelling prowess and technical acumen to his work.
