The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter

by Helen R. Quinn, Yossi Nir

In the first fractions of a second after the Big Bang lingers a question at the heart of our very existence: why does the universe contain matter but almost no antimatter? The laws of physics tell us that equal amounts of matter and antimatter were produced in the early universe--but then something odd happened. Matter won out over antimatter; had it not, the universe today would be dark and barren.



But how and when did this occur? In The Mystery of the Missing Antimatter, Helen Quinn and Yossi Nir guide readers into the very heart of this mystery--and along the way offer an exhilarating grand tour of cutting-edge physics.

Genres: Science, Physics

296 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2007

Reviews

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

According to their best current understanding of the universe, physicists believe that in the first split-second after the Big Bang, there should have been equal amounts of matter and antimatter. Somehow, apparently, the antimatter disappeared, but all the matter we see did not. This puzzle is the focus of this book.

This is a "popular science" book in that it doesn't present the material as physicists would in a professional physics journal. However, it is comparatively sophisticated and dense for a popular science book. On the other hand, the author tries not to assume too much of the reader. Most of the book is spent building the foundation in cosmology and physics for why scientists believe there were equal amounts of matter and antimatter at first, what antimatter is, how antimatter can be produced or destoyed in physical processes, what the Standard Model of particle physics is and its relevance to this question, what kinds of experiements physicists have used to ezplore the question and what they hope to do in the future, and so forth. So, the book could be used as a physics refresher course for some readers, a way to expand one's existing knowledge of physics, or PERHAPS an (extensive) introduction for readers with more of an aptitude for such things.

Since it may make a difference to some readers, I will do what a review generally should not do for a mystery book - and tell you who done it. The answer: physicists still don't know what killed the antimatter. However, there is discussion of possible solutions physicists are considering and how they hope to look into those possibilities.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

In short, a very frustrating book. It's supposed to make particle physics accessible to the lay reader, but it doesn't take any steps to truly do so. No glossary of terms. No summary charts of the various particles. As for pictures? Apparently the authors decided that the reader would have no problem visualizing particle decay (and all its various colors and handedness and charges and spins), but needs a picture of a man balancing a broom on his nose because that would be beyond our mental capability. The authors will remind you of simple ideas (they tell us multiple times that the Baryon number is quarks minus antiquarks) yet don't think you need to be reminded what W- particles are again ... of course, a glossary and chart would make repetition unnecessary.

I also think they should've put equations in the book. I can understand that they thought doing so might scare off some readers, but some of the ideas would've been easier to understand if the equation involved was reproduced.

Some of the bio of the scientists is interesting, but it's usually just a couple sentences. And I can tell the authors were earnest in their desire to convey their enthusiasm for the subject. But the lack of summary data or useful images just makes it too arduous for the casual reader. Someone who has taken several physics courses might have better luck ... but then the lack of bibliography at the end will probably frustrate them.

[Lisa]

I tried pretty hard to read this and just couldn't. It seems like it's supposed to be for the lay reader but - it's not, in my opinion.

[Alejo.Tobon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I think is one of the most deepest popular books on particle physics with a specific goal: antimatter. Although some parts were hard to picture without any explanatory images (I did some by myself to get some understanding), the writing is very coherent and relational between chapters and state-of-the-art knowledge. It’s important to have in mind the year of publishing! It was 2008 and therefore, nothing about the Higgs discovery was discussed.

[Fredrick_254 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book

[Voyt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Higgs has been found !
POSTED AT AMAZON 2012
Higb energy perticle physics ..valiant attempt to explain - this is what authors have done here to satisfy a lay person.
Not easy task for sure; the Standard Model of particles and interactions is hugely complex. After reading Leon Lederman's Symmetry and the Beautiful Universe (some time ago) I reached for "Missing Antimatter" in order to refresh what I managed to grasp.
The subject is so much mind boggling..impossible to remember clearly all names of particles, symmetry violations and ways that symmetry is broken under numerous circumstances. However I admit it is not a fault of the authors. I come to conclusion , it is easier to write about large scale concordance cosmology, but almost undoable when it comes to particle physics.
I read the book entirely, it is quite well constructed and written. Nevertheless in the middle of it I lost again any hope to memorise permanently all dense science standing behind the incomplete and limited Standard Model. The last chapter explains new speculations about so called 'leptogenesis' (versus Sakharov's 'baryogenesis'). This theory requires early existence of new heavy and fast decaying into Higgs particle, leptons.
Helen Quinn writes: "We will probably never be able to observe all the processes that contribute to leptogenesis" - not very optimistic. What I liked is Appendix: "A Timeline of Particle Physics and Cosmology".
I highly recommend great publication by James M. Cline "The origin of Matter" (Scientific American, March/April, vol 92, 2004) that will make the book more understandable. One will find this article full of illustrations and graphs, that are missing in Helen Quinn book.
The large drawback for this book (that is why only 3*)are:
- lack of more 'scientific' illustrations/diagrams summarizing reactions/collisions and tables of existing particles, or even simple drawing showing how collider looks like(instead we have several naive cartoons)...find them in the above mentioned Scientific American.
- lack of nomenclature's glossary.
- brief summaries after each chapter.
Meanwhile search for dark matter particles and new leptons continues.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for the hardcore non-physicist that explores both historical and recent research into cosmology and particle physics. If you have gotten behind in what’s new in physics, you will learn about the experiments that confirmed that neutrinos do have mass, that one candidate for the dark matter that pervades the universe is the neutralino particle, and that nobody knows much about dark energy except it probably does exist. Although much of the territory has been covered in other books, I liked their discussion of the tools of the particle physicist – what it would take to build your own particle accelerator. Taking it from the slant of a mystery also adds a fresh perspective, but don’t expect a neat solution.

[Ms. S........... · Rating 3 out of 5]

I skimmed it and have to re-read it, but it seems like a nice layout of thoughts to ponder.