What Is Antimatter?

Why We Exist: Matter Wins Battle Over Antimatter

The Fermilab accelerator complex accelerates protons and antiprotons close to the speed of light. (Image credit: Fermilab)

Antimatter sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it’s very real. It is, however, elusive.

Antimatter particles are subatomic particles with properties opposite those of normal matter particles. So a positron (positively charged) is the antiparticle equivalent of the electron (negatively charged). When a particle and its antiparticle meet, they annihilate (are destroyed), releasing a lot of energy.

Antimatter particles are created in ultra high-speed collisions. There was a lot of it after the Big Bang. But today antimatter is rare.

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