Antimatter matters - Frank Close 1993 Christmas Lectures 4/5
Before the Large Hadron Collider there was the Large Electron Positron Collider, the largest lepton accelerator ever built.Watch all the lectures in this series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbnrZHfNEDZzLKaoTdeYwVajlium5DvVP
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This was recorded on 4 Dec 1993.
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This year marks 200 years of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures — a world famous series showcasing science, curiosity, and mind-blowing demos, and started by the legendary Michael Faraday himself. To celebrate, we're unlocking the archive. Every Saturday, we’ll upload a classic lecture to our YouTube channel — some not seen since they aired on TV. Sign up as a Science Supporter and get early access here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
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From the 1993 programme notes:
100 metres below ground, among the fields north of Geneva, is the world’s largest scientific instrument – the LEP (for Large Electron Positron collider). Beams of electrons and their antimatter counterparts – positrons – whirl around a 27km racetrack at near to the speed of light. Suddenly they smash head on into each other producing in a small volume the hottest place on Earth, hotter even than the centre of the Sun and hotter perhaps than anywhere in the Universe since the original Big Bang.
When matter and antimatter meet they may mutually annihilate and turn into a fireball of radiation – Space travellers to anti-galaxies beware! Antimatter sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it is a very real part of the Universe. Although all bulk material is made of matter, (good news for future astronauts) individual pieces of antimatter arrive in cosmic rays and we can now produce large quantities for use in experiments. Antimatter is even used as a medical diagnostic.
Collisions between matter and antimatter happened everywhere in the first fractions of a second of the Big Bang. By reproducing these conditions at LEP we can learn how the material ingredients of the Universe were formed and discover the fundamental modus operandi of nature.
In order to capture the images of these cataclysmic collisions, LEP contains four huge particle detectors. Each is bigger than a two storey house and weighs more than five jumbo jets; their surroundings look like something from the imagination of HG Wells and their sophisticated electronics produce fantastic visions. In this lecture we will visit LEP and go deep underground to see the experiment for ourselves.
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About the 1993 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
These lectures explore a century of discovery, beginning in 1893—a time before scientists knew of radioactivity, electrons, or atoms, and had no idea how stars shine or that galaxies rush away from a Big Bang. Despite this, many believed they were close to fully understanding nature. But discoveries at the century’s turn shattered that view, revealing a deeper, more complex reality.
By 1993, people spoke of a “Theory of Everything” and pondered whether we could “know the mind of God.” Yet again, there were signs that all was not well. These lectures trace this journey through discovery and debate, ending with a look toward the next hundred years.
They will show how each breakthrough not only answers questions but opens new ones—driving innovation, creating new tools, and extending our reach far beyond our senses.
While our eyes see nearby stars and fine detail, and our ears detect fleeting sounds, it’s our “sixth sense”—the tools of science—that let us look deep into atoms and far across the cosmos. Telescopes capture ancient light; particle accelerators recreate the moments after the Big Bang.
At the smallest scales, we image subatomic particles living for billionths of a second. Like hieroglyphs revealing ancient secrets, these modern symbols tell the story of creation—and may even hint at our future.
Find out more about the CHRISTMAS LECTURES here: https://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures
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