Researchers Plan to Transport Antimatter in Containers to European Laboratories by 2025
Antimatter is the most expensive substance on Earth—it is estimated to cost trillions of USD to produce just one gram—and can only be manufactured in particle physics laboratories such as the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) near Geneva, Switzerland. Antimatter is also extremely difficult to handle. If it comes into contact with ordinary matter, both will annihilate, releasing a burst of strong electromagnetic radiation. Only by carefully combining strong electric and magnetic fields in special devices can scientists safely store antimatter.
Inside the world’s only antimatter factory at CERN. (Photo: Julien Marius Ordan/CERN)
“This makes transporting antimatter very challenging, but we are getting closer to making the first trip. Antimatter contains a lot of information that can be provided. That’s why we are doing this,” the Guardian quoted Professor Stefan Ulmer at CERN on December 8.
The scientific community wants to study antimatter particles because they believe these could hold the key to understanding a fundamental mystery. “We believe that the Big Bang produced equal amounts of matter and antimatter. These would have annihilated each other, leaving a universe filled only with electromagnetic radiation and almost nothing else,” Ulmer explained.
However, the fact that the universe is filled with galaxies, stars, planets, and living beings made up of matter suggests that this hypothesis is incorrect. There is a fundamental asymmetry that favored matter and prevented the universe from becoming a void.
For this reason, physicists wish to investigate the differences between the particles that make up matter and antimatter. This could provide clues to explain why matter dominates the universe, as CERN scientist Barbara Maria Latacz once stated: “We are trying to understand why we exist.”
Normal matter is formed from subatomic particles like protons and electrons, while antimatter consists of particles such as antiprotons and positrons (also known as antielectrons). A significant source of antiprotons is located at CERN within the Antiproton Decelerator—where antiprotons are produced, collected, and studied. The goal is to accurately measure their properties and compare them with protons.
Background magnetic fields near the machine are limiting this work. Therefore, scientists want to transport samples to other laboratories. “By moving them to a new location, we can perform measurements 100 times more accurately and gain a better understanding of antiprotons,” Ulmer explained.
To achieve this goal, CERN has developed transportable devices that contain superconducting magnets, ultra-cooling systems, and vacuum chambers—where antiprotons can be captured, avoiding contact with ordinary matter—and will transport them using a 7-ton truck.
Initially, antiprotons will only be transported within CERN. By 2025, the containers will be shipped further away to a dedicated precision laboratory at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany. “In the long term, we want to transport them to any laboratory in Europe,” said Christian Smorra, project manager for the transport.
