After reading this article, you will familiarize yourself with the understanding of the annihilation process, it will be analyzed in all details, the energy value of the process will be studied, and erroneous understandings of this phenomenon will be analyzed.
Annihilation is
So, the main question before us is: “Annihilation - what is it?”. Annihilation is a process of collision of two elements of this phenomenon, namely, a particle and an antiparticle, and as a result of this phenomenon, two particles are formed from two opposite elementary particles that are fundamentally different from the original ones.
The detailed meaning of annihilation
This phenomenon was first discovered in 1930, but the final confirmation of the existence of such a process occurred only with the discovery of artificial radioactivity, in which positrons were emitted, and the whole process was accompanied by the release of annihilation y-radiation.
The meaning of the word annihilation is often described as a collision of two particles: particles and antiparticles, which are destroyed during a collision, form new forms of matter, but this is a misinterpretation of this phenomenon, which has settled quite deeply in the scientific community and generates a lot of controversy around this issue to this day.
What is essentially annihilation? Annihilation is the process of the formation of new forms of matter from matter and antimatter, particles and antiparticles. In this process, the initial parameters of the interacting elements are saved, namely: the systemic energy of the particles and their total mass, the amount of angular momentum, charge and even momentum. So, when an electron collides with a positron, both particles are not destroyed, but converted into photons, transferring their mass and energy to them, which, in this case, became the energy of the photon.
We consider such a thing as annihilation. What has this phenomenon changed in the understanding of the world order and in the whole in the understanding of the whole universe?
This process has a significant epistemological meaning, literally destroying the early metaphysical ideas about some aspects of the immutability of matter, because now matter can turn from one form to another. Annihilation opens the eyes of mankind to the very essence of matter, arguing that it is impossible to precisely distinguish between different types of matter, and in the presence of a number of circumstances, nth particles can pass from one form to another.
Electro-positron pair
The annihilation process is well studied using the example of a positron-electron pair. Having a low energy charge, the colliding electron and positron annihilate (due to their state) from two to three photons, and the number of photons depends on the position of the spins of the particles. In the presence of several MeV in an electron and positron charge, multiphoton type annihilation can occur.
Also, this phenomenon was studied using neutron-antineutron and proton-antiproton pairs as examples.
Application of annihilation
We continue to analyze the concept of “annihilation”. What is it, and what important phenomenon does it contain? We will also analyze in detail how it can be used?
This phenomenon is used by physicists around the world in the theory of relativity. It is through annihilation that the energy “E” (zero) is converted into kinetic type energy for reacting products. The collision of a particle and an antiparticle is always accompanied by a powerful release of energy, for example, in the collision of an electron and a positron. However, in the present, this method of generating energy is not used due to a number of reasons, for example, prohibitive prices for antimatter and the peculiarities of methods for storing antimatter. Energy and annihilation, what is lurking in this process? Just colossal energy resources! It was determined and calculated that the interaction of 1 kg of matter with the same amount of antimatter will lead to the release of an amount of energy equal to approximately 1.8 x 1017 joule of energy. A similar amount of energy is generated during the explosion of trinitrotuluene in the amount of 47 megatons.