CERN discovers antihyperhelium-4, the heaviest antimatter particle to date

 

 

CERN discovers antihyperhelium-4, the heaviest antimatter particle to date.

Scientists at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider have discovered the heaviest antimatter particle ever observed: antihyperhelium-4.

 

This exotic particle, the antimatter counterpart of hyperhelium-4, contains two antiprotons, an antineutron, and an antilambda particle. The breakthrough offers insights into the extreme conditions of the early universe and sheds light on the baryon asymmetry problem — why our universe is dominated by matter despite matter and antimatter being created in equal amounts during the Big Bang.

 

The discovery was made using lead-ion collisions at the LHC, recreating the hyper-hot environment of the newborn universe. Machine learning models analyzed the data, identifying antihyperhelium-4 particles and precisely measuring their masses.

 

While the experiment confirmed that matter and antimatter are created in equal portions, the mystery of what tipped the cosmic balance remains unsolved. With ongoing upgrades to the LHC, more groundbreaking discoveries in antimatter research could be on the horizon.