antiparticle

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From anti- +‎ particle.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈæntiˌpɑ(ɹ)tɪkəl/

Noun

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antiparticle (plural antiparticles)

  1. (physics) A subatomic particle corresponding to another particle with the same mass, spin and mean lifetime but with charge, parity, strangeness and other quantum numbers flipped in sign; a particle that has a reversed world line to another.
    • 1988, Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, page 75:
      There could be whole antiworlds and antipeople made out of antiparticles. However, if you meet your antiself, don't shake hands!
    • 2010 November 19, Alok Jha, “We can't see antimatter but it really does matter”, in The Guardian[1], →ISSN:
      Particles of matter and antimatter are identical, except for an opposite electrical charge. An electron has a negative charge whereas its antiparticle, the positron, has a positive charge, and both have an identical mass.

Usage notes

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  • The symbol for an antiparticle is the symbol for the normal particle plus "bar" (e.g. pbar) or with a bar above the symbol.

Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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