How to reach Mars within a month? For this you need to give the spacecraft good momentum. Alas, the best available person - fuel nuclear gives specific impulse 3000 seconds, and flight stretched on for months. But do you have any on hand for something more energetic? Theoretically there: thermonuclear synthesis; it provides the impetus to hundreds of thousands of seconds, and the use of antimatter will get a boost in millions seconds.

Kernel antimatter built of antinucleons and the outer shell consists of positrons. Due to the invariance of the strong interaction regarding the charge conjugation (C-invariance) Integra have mass and energy spectra of the same nuclei consisting of relevant nucleons, the atoms antimatter and matter must have identical structure and chemical properties, with only one BUT a collision object consisting of substances, with the object of antimatter leads to annihilation they are composed of particles and antiparticles.

Annihilation of slow electrons and positrons leads to the formation of gamma-quanta, and annihilation of slow nucleons and antinucleons - to formation of several PI-mesons. As a result of subsequent decays of mesons produced hard gamma radiation with an energy of gamma-quanta more than 70 MeV.

The antielectrons (positrons) were predicted by P. Dirac and subsequently experimentally found in the “showers” P. Anderson, even knew then about the prediction of the Dirac. This discovery was awarded the Nobel prizes in physics 1936 the Antiproton was opened in 1955 on “Bevatron” in Berkeley, which was also awarded the Nobel prize. In 1960 there have discovered the antineutron. With the introduction of the Serpukhov accelerator and our physicists something managed to get ahead in 1969 there were open core anthelia. But the antimatter atoms will have failed. Yes, if to be Frank, and antiparticles for all time of existence of accelerators has received insignificant number - all antiprotons, synthesized at CERN for the year, enough for one light bulb for a few seconds.

The first report on the synthesis of nine antimatter atoms of antihydrogen in the framework of the project "ATRAP" (CERN) appeared in 1995. Having existed about 40 NS, these individual atoms were killed by selecting the appropriate number of radiation (which was registered). The goals were clear and justified the efforts of the task defined, and in 1997, near Geneva, thanks to international aid, CERN began construction of decelerator (we are not going to translate some of the equivalent "toroidal"), which allowed to slow down ("cool") antiprotons another ten million times in comparison with the installation of 1995. This device, called "the Antiproton decelerator" (AD) was put into operation in February 2002.

Installation - after the release of antiprotons from slowing ring consists of four main parts: traps to capture antiprotons, drive positrons, traps-mixer and detector antihydrogen. The flow of antiprotons initially hampered by using microwave radiation, then cooled in the heat exchange with the flow of low-energy electrons, and then falls into the trap - mixer, which lies at the temperature of 15 K. Positron storage consistently slow, captures and stores positrons from a radioactive source; about half of which falls into the trap-mixer where they cool off synchrotron radiation. All this is necessary for increasing the probability of formation of antihydrogen atoms.

"Antiproton decelerator" and began a fierce competition of two groups of scientists, participants of experiment "ATHENA" (39 scientists from different countries of the world) and "ATRAP".

In the room of Nature (Nature 2002, vol.419, p.439, ibid p.456) released October 3, 2002., participants of experiment "ATHENA" said that they managed to get 50 000 antimatter atoms of antihydrogen. The presence of antimatter atoms were fixed at the moment of their annihilation, the evidence of which was considered crossing at one point traces of two hard quanta formed in electron-positron annihilation, and traces of pions, resulting in the annihilation of the antiproton and the proton. It received its first “portrait” antimatter ( photo in the beginning) is synthesized from such points computer image. Because annihilated only those atoms “slipped” from the trap (and such, reliably counted, there were only 130), claimed 50,000 atoms of antihydrogen only create an invisible background of the “portrait”.

The problem is that the annihilation of antihydrogen was recorded in General, the stronger the background of the annihilation of positrons and antiprotons. This naturally caused a healthy skepticism colleagues from allied competing project "ATRAP". They, in turn synthesizing antivodoroda on the same setup, managed with the help of complex magnetic traps to register the atoms of antihydrogen without any background signal. Formed in the experiment antihydrogen atoms become electrically neutral and unlike positrons and antiprotons could freely leave the area where he was held charged particles. There, without their background and registered.

It is estimated that a trap was formed approximately 170 000 antihydrogen atoms, which the researchers said in the article published in Physical Review Letters".

And this is already a success. Now obtained the number of antihydrogen may be sufficient to study its properties. For antihydrogen atoms, for example, it is assumed measurement of frequency of the electronic transition 1s-2s (from the ground state in the first excited state) by the methods of laser spectroscopy of high resolution. (Frequency of this transition in the hydrogen is known with an accuracy of up to 1.8·10-14 - not for nothing that a hydrogen maser is considered the standard rate.) According to the theory, they must be the same as those of ordinary hydrogen. If, for example absorption spectrum, would be different, you have to make adjustments in the fundamentals of modern physics.

But interest in the antimatter - antimatter is not purely theoretical. The engine on the antimatter can work , for example in the following way. First create two clouds of several trillions of antiprotons that from contact with matter holds an electromagnetic trap. Then between them impose a piece of fuel weighing 42 nanogramme. It is a capsule from uranium-238, which is the mixture of deuterium and helium-3 or deuterium and tritium.

The antiprotons immediately annihilate with nuclei of uranium and cause their collapse into fragments. These fragments, together with the resulting gamma-quanta, so much heat inside the capsule, there begins a thermonuclear reaction. Its products are of enormous energy, further accelerated by a magnetic field and fly through the nozzle of the engine, providing a space ship unheard cravings.

As for the flight to Mars in one month, American physicists recommend the use of other technology - nuclear fission, catalyzed antiprotons. Then the crew will need a 140 nanograms antiprotons, excluding radioactive fuel.

New measurements conducted at Stanford research center (California), where the linear accelerator of elementary particles, allowed scientists to advance in response to the question of why the universe substance prevails over antimatter.

The experiment confirms previously made assumptions about the development of the imbalance of these opposing natures. However, scientists say that research has supplied more questions than answers: experiences with accelerator can not give a full explanation why in space so many substances are billions of galaxies filled with stars and planets.

Scientists working with the accelerator, measured parameter, known as sine two beta (0,74 plus or minus 0.07). This index reflects the degree of asymmetry between matter and antimatter.

The Big Bang should have produced the same amount of matter and antimatter, which then annihilated and left nothing but energy. However monitored by us the universe is conclusive evidence of the victory of matter over antimatter.

To understand how this could happen, physics examined the effect called " violation of equality of charges. To observe this effect scientists studied B-mesons and anti-B mesons, particles with very short period of life - trillionth of a second.

Differences in the behavior of these are completely opposite of particles show the differences between matter and antimatter, and partly explain why one prevails over the other. Millions of B-mesons and anti-B mesons, necessary for the experiment, formed as a result of collision in the accelerator beams of electrons and positrons. The first results obtained in 2001, clearly show the violation of equality of charges in B-meson.

"It was an important discovery, but it is necessary to collect a lot of data to approve the sine two beta as a fundamental constant of quantum physics, believes Stewart Smith Stewart Smith) from Princeton University. - New results were announced after three years of intensive research and analysis 88 million event".

New measurements are consistent with the so-called "the standard model", which describes the elementary particles and their interactions. Confirmed the extent of the violation of equality of charges is not in itself sufficient to explain the imbalance of chemicalsand and antimatter in the universe.

"Apparently, except inequality charges have been something else that caused the prevalence of substance, which turned into stars, planets and living organisms, - said Hassan, JAERI (Hassan Jawahery), an employee of the University in Maryland In the future we may be able to understand these hidden processes and to answer the question, what caused the universe to its present state, this will be the most exciting opening".