New Insights Into Antimatter, 20 Years In the Making

Anti-hydrogen particles react with the walls of the experimental chamber, producing the flashes of light seen here. (Credit: CERN) Antimatter is more than a science fiction concept that allows engineers to power the Enterprise. It’s an actual — albeit small — constituent of our universe. While antimatter is rare, it can exist under the right conditions. Information about the way antimatter behaves provides a powerful tool for testing the Standard Model of particle physics we currently use to understand the forces that govern the way particles behave.