We're an independent, student-run newsroom.
Consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the face of Berkeley.

DONATE TODAYUC Berkeley professor helps theorize how particles in universe may have saved life
from annihilation

AYA TSUVOI/COURTESY

LAST UPDATED FEBRUARY 6, 2020

BY MAXINE MOULY | STAFF

Japan
Designed for non-business majors
with limited work experience. One-Particles in the universe may have saved life as we know it from annihilation, according to UC Berkeley professor of physics Hitoshi Murayama, along with otherresearchers worldwide.
It is theorized that matter and antimatter were created in equal quantities in the universe, according to Graham White, co-author of the study and postdoctoral
research associate at Canada’s particle accelerator center, TRI-University Meson Facility. Naturally, the two would have destroyed one another, resulting inannihilation. Given life on Earth, however, the universe was able to create an imbalance and tip the scales in favor of matter over antimatter.
“One of the hardest questions to answer is how we are saved from annihilation since the most plausible answer involves physics that would take a machine larger
than the solar system to directly test,” White said in an email. “We wondered if it can be tested cosmologically.”
Five researchers from around the world, including Murayama and UC Berkeley postdoctoral researcher Jeff Dror, worked on the project, according to White. The
study was published after one year of research and discussionsof the team’s
BERKELEY’SNEWSfindings.
· WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
Matter and antimatter have opposite charges and, because the charge is fixed, electrically neutral particles are the only particles that can “preferentially” decay
into matter over antimatter, White said in the email. He added that the only known electrically neutral particles are sterile neutrinos.
In other words, these particles may have caused an imbalance of increased matter over antimatter in the universe, resulting in the formation of cosmic strings,
according to the research paper, which was published in the Physical Review Letters on Jan. 28.
As these cosmic strings evolve, gravitational waves are produced, according to White.

Gravitational waves, which are ripples in space-time, were first discovered using the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory by observing thecombining of two black holes, White said.
“This sparked a new way of looking at the Universe with many experimental proposals cropping up as a result,” White said in the email. “The most exciting thing
about gravitational waves is that the universe is completely transparent to them.”
The next major steps in answering the question of why we exist are “on the way,” White said in the email.
More precise gravitational wave detectors will be developed within the next few decades, according to White. He added that researchers might then be able todetect these gravitational waves and use them to discover whether sterile neutrinos have the appropriate properties to explain our existence.
“This question of why we’re safe from annihilation is untestable and it turns out that that’s becoming less and less true as we understand it more,” White said in
the email. “The moral of the story is if you hear something’s difficult to test, that’s a scientific challenge rather than a final statement.”
Contact Maxine Mouly at mmouly@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @moulymaxine.

Graham White, Hitoshi Murayama, Jeff Dror, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory, Physical Review Letters, TRI-University Meson Facility.

割引価格980円の滋養強壮剤で、馬並みの活力に
京福堂 | SponsoredSponsored

多くの人が知らない交通事故弁護士ことを知ったら、驚くかもしれません
交通事故 弁護士 | 検索広告

看護師がどれぐらい稼ぐかを知ると驚くでしょう
看護師 求人 | 検索広告

美容家注目の「糖化」潤い不足の私が日本初の糖化ケアサプリを試したところ
マンゴスティア

塾に通わなくてもデキる子のタブレット学習
ジャストシステム

Show More Comments「やずや開発のマカ、亜鉛サプリが凄い」え、初回1日約44円！
やずや

資産家が大恐慌で生まれる理由 | 大富豪と貧乏人の圧倒的な行動の違い 自宅で見れるオンラインセミナー
大富豪の投資術 | Sponsored

誰も言わない明治維新の真実
Pride and History | Sponsored