Researched
Antimatter
Dirac's equation (1928) leads him to predict the antielectron (1931); Anderson finds the positron in 1932, the first antiparticle.
Open in the interactive tree →Dirac's equation, which combines quantum mechanics and relativity, required particles with opposite charge. Antiparticles became tools (PET scanners use positrons) and a puzzle: why does the universe contain almost no antimatter?
Prerequisites
Unlocks
- Quantum Electrodynamics1948
- Matter-Antimatter AsymmetryopenThe matter-antimatter puzzle only exists because antiparticles do