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Physics

This antimatter version of an atomic nucleus is the heaviest yet

Smashing gold nuclei together at high speeds billions of times has resulted in 16 particles of antihyperhydrogen-4, a very exotic and heavy form of antimatter

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

21 August 2024

Composite image of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider in New York and the particle tracks it detects

Joe Rubino and Jen Abramowitz/Brookhaven National Laboratory

Our collection of antimatter has just gotten heavier, as researchers have logged the heaviest antimatter version of an atomic nucleus yet, called antihyperhydrogen-4.

“We didn’t think that it was 100 per cent certain we would find it, we just knew we had a chance,” says Hao Qiu at the Institute of Modern Physics in China. He and his colleagues, an international team called the STAR Collaboration, briefly formed the new type of antimatter in…

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