matter
Making Connections: Cosmology and Particle Physics There are many connections of cosmologyby definition involving physics on the largest scalewith particle physicsby definition physics on the smallest scale. Among these are the dominance of matter over antimatter, the nearly perfect uniformity of the cosmic microwave background, and the mere existence of galaxies. Matter versus antimatter We know from direct observation that antimatter is rare. The Earth and the solar system are nearly pure matter. Space probes and cosmic rays give direct evidencethe landing of the Viking probes on Mars would have been spectacular explosions of mutual annihilation energy if Mars were antimatter. We also know that most of the universe is dominated by matter. This is proven by the lack of annihilation radiation coming to us from space, particularly the relative absence of 0.511-MeV rays created by the mutual annihilation of electrons and positrons. It seemed possible that there could be entire solar systems or galaxies made of antimatter in perfect symmetry with our matter-dominated systems. But the interactions between stars and galaxies would sometimes bring matter and antimatter together in large amounts. The annihilation + radiation they would produce is simply not observed. Antimatter in nature is created in particle collisions and in decays, but only in small amounts that quickly annihilate, leaving almost pure matter surviving. Particle physics seems symmetric in matter and antimatter. Why isnt the cosmos? The answer is that particle physics is not quite perfectly symmetric in this regard. The decay of one of the neutral K -mesons, for example, preferentially creates more matter than antimatter. This is caused by a fundamental small asymmetry in the basic forces. This small asymmetry produced slightly.