The asymmetry of matter and antimatter is one of the greatest puzzles in physics. All particles have antimatter versions that are nearly identical, but with mirrored properties such as the opposite electric charge. When an antimatter and a matter particle meet, they annihilate in a flash of energy.
If antimatter and matter are mirrored copies of each other, they should have been produced in equal amounts in the Big Bang. But today there’s nearly no antimatter left in the universe. We only see it in some radioactive decays and a fraction of cosmic rays. So what happened to it?
Dr. Mike Snow, IU professor of physics will talk about this mystery.
Already the information from the violent events which makes these waves is giving us new insights into physics and astronomy. Michael Snow will explain what a gravitational wave is, describe how they are detected, and report on the latest news: the discovery of where the heavy chemical elements in the universe are made.
