Antimatter


The basics of anti-matter aren't too difficult. Anti-matter can be modelled as matter in negative time. Bombarding hydrogen (protons) with neutrinos yields neutrons and positrons (electrons with a positive charge, anti-electrons), which happens in decay products from nuclear reactors. What are probably more interesting are negative protons (anti-protons), which annihilate with protons. Since e=mc^2 and protons are 1800 times more massive than electrons, proton/anti-proton annihilation produces considerably more energy per reaction than electron/anti-electron annihilation. Anti-protons can be produced by accelerating protons and slamming them into targets.

Coupled microwave cavities have a characteristic resonant frequency. Due to opposite charge sign, matter and like antimatter, say hydrogen and anti-hydrogen, curve in opposite directions in the presence of a magnetic field. Parallel ion streams of matter and antimatter could be injected into a cavity of a coupled resonant microwave cavity pair. With correct velocity and spacing between the streams, the streams would collide at the peak of the electromagnetic resonance, triggering a matter-antimatter reaction which would reinforce the electromagnetic resonance. This total annihilation process would effectively convert mass directly into electromagnetic energy. If current (electricity) is desired, the microwave energy from the resonant cavities could be used to drive a cyclotron.


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