#particle physics
- Annihilation — The act of annihilating and its result; complete destruction, total obliteration, or the reduction of an entity, force, or structure to a state of zero or non-existence. In elementary particle physics, it represents the process of total conversion of the mass of a particle-antiparticle pair into pure energy (high-energy photons) upon their collision, adhering to the laws of conservation of energy and momentum.
- Antihyperon — The antiparticle corresponding to a hyperon; an unstable baryon with a negative baryon number, composed exclusively of antiquarks, at least one of which is a strange, charm, bottom, or top antiquark. In a structural sense, it possesses the same mass and lifespan as the respective hyperon, but opposite electric charge and strangeness number.
- Antimatter — A form of matter composed of antiparticles corresponding to ordinary particles, having the same mass and lifespan as them, but opposite electric charges and magnetic moments (e.g., positrons, antiprotons, antineutrons). In a structural sense, the direct interaction between matter and antimatter instantly leads to the process of mutual annihilation, with the complete conversion of mass into high-frequency radiant energy.
- Antimeson — The antiparticle corresponding to a meson; an unstable boson-type hadron structurally composed of an inverted symmetrical pair consisting of a quark and an antiquark, possessing the same mass and spin as the respective meson, but opposite electric charge, strangeness, charm, or isospin. In an experimental sense, the collision between a meson and an antimeon leads to their mutual quantum annihilation.
- Antimolecule — A hypothetical or experimentally synthesized molecular formation in high-energy laboratories, structurally composed entirely of antiparticles (antiprotons, antineutrons, and positrons) bound by the same electromagnetic and nuclear forces as an ordinary molecule. Direct contact between a molecule and an antimolecule triggers an instantaneous process of quantum annihilation with a massive release of gamma photons.
- Antineutrino — The antiparticle corresponding to a neutrino; an electrically neutral lepton with an extremely small (or zero) rest mass and half-integer spin, typically emitted during beta-minus decay processes of atomic nuclei. In a structural sense, it possesses an opposite helicity (right-handed) compared to that of the neutrino (left-handed) and interacts extremely weakly with matter.
- Antineutrino — The antiparticle corresponding to the neutrino, characterized by an extremely small (nearly zero) mass, a neutral electric charge, and half-integer spin, possessing an opposite helicity (right-handed) compared to that of the neutrino. This subatomic entity is predominantly emitted during beta-minus decay processes, interacting with matter exclusively through the weak nuclear force and gravity, which makes it extremely difficult to detect.
- Antiproton — The antiparticle of the proton, possessing identical mass and spin but an opposite, negative electric charge. Experimentally discovered in 1955, the antiproton is a stable composite particle belonging to the hadron class, composed of three antiquarks (two up antiquarks and one down antiquark), whose direct interaction with ordinary matter leads to mutual annihilation, releasing massive energy in the form of gamma rays.
- Antiton — A hypothetical or experimental elementary particle representing the corresponding antiparticle of a ton, sharing the same mass and spin but possessing an opposite electric charge or quantum number. In advanced quantum physics theories or subatomic structure models, the interaction between a ton and an antiton leads to mutual annihilation with the release of energy waves or high-frequency photons.
- Azion — A hypothetical elementary particle or quasiparticle proposed in advanced theoretical physics models to explain phenomena related to quantum asymmetry or gauge field interactions; a structural entity associated with the quantum torsion states of spacetime.