What is an antiparticle?

An antiparticle is a particle that has the same mass as a corresponding particle, but opposite charge.

Antiparticles are fundamental particles that have the same mass as their corresponding particles, but opposite charge. For example, the antiparticle of an electron is a positron, which has the same mass as an electron but a positive charge. When an antiparticle and its corresponding particle meet, they annihilate each other, releasing energy in the form of gamma rays.

Antiparticles were first predicted by Paul Dirac in 1928, as a consequence of his relativistic equation for the electron. The existence of antiparticles was confirmed experimentally in 1932, when Carl Anderson discovered the positron in cosmic rays. Since then, many other antiparticles have been discovered, such as the antiproton, the antineutron, and the antineutrino.

Antiparticles play an important role in particle physics, as they can be used to study the properties of particles and the fundamental forces that govern their interactions. For example, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN is used to collide particles and their antiparticles at high energies, in order to create new particles and study their properties. Antiparticles also have practical applications, such as in medical imaging and cancer therapy.