Antimatter

David John Baker; Hans Halvorson

doi:10.1093/bjps/axp009

Antimatter

David John Baker, Hans Halvorson

Philosophy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

The nature of antimatter is examined in the context of algebraic quantum field theory. It is shown that the notion of antimatter is more general than that of antiparticles. Properly speaking, then, antimatter is not matter made up of antiparticles - rather, antiparticles are particles made up of antimatter. We go on to discuss whether the notion of antimatter is itself completely general in quantum field theory. Does the matter-antimatter distinction apply to all field theoretic systems? The answer depends on which of several possible criteria we should impose on the space of physical states.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	93-121
Number of pages	29
Journal	British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
Volume	61
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axp009
State	Published - Mar 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

History
Philosophy
History and Philosophy of Science

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AB - The nature of antimatter is examined in the context of algebraic quantum field theory. It is shown that the notion of antimatter is more general than that of antiparticles. Properly speaking, then, antimatter is not matter made up of antiparticles - rather, antiparticles are particles made up of antimatter. We go on to discuss whether the notion of antimatter is itself completely general in quantum field theory. Does the matter-antimatter distinction apply to all field theoretic systems? The answer depends on which of several possible criteria we should impose on the space of physical states.

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Antimatter

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