2020-2021 Physics 1st Term Project

王肇熙 F5D 26
What is a positron?
The positron or antielectron is the antiparticle or the antimatter
counterpart of the electron.

In terms of chargeability, electrons are negatively charged (e-).

Relative to matter, the other is called "antimatter".

Its chargeability is opposite to the matter. Therefore, positrons

are positively charged (e+). Apart from chargeability, the other
properties of positrons are the same as that of electrons.

Annihilation

Positrons are unstable. When a positron collides with an electron, both

will disappear. This phenomenon is called annihilation, which obeys the
conservation of charge, energy, momentum, and angular momentum.

Under low-energy situations, annihilation mainly generates two or three

gamma ray photons.

Under high-energy situations, annihilation generates other elementary

particles.

History

In 1928, an English theoretical physicist called Paul Dirac published

a paper and predicted that there is a positively charged particle
with the same properties as electrons, which became a hot topic in
particle physics experiments at that time.

In 1930, a Chinese physicist called Chung-Yao Chao observed the

annihilation of positive and anti-matter, and he was the first physicist
to discover antimatter.

In 1932, an American physicist called Carl Anderson discovered

that when the high-energy cosmic ray entering the cloud chamber
passed through the lead plate, the trajectory of a particle was the
same as that of the electron, but the bending direction was “wrong”.
This unknown particle has the same mass as an electron, but it has
the opposite charge. He named the discovered particles
"positrons”.

In the following year, Anderson used gamma ray to generate Carl Anderson
positrons, which fully confirmed the existence of positrons
experimentally.
How to observe a positron?

(1) Observation in cosmic rays (cloud chamber)

Cosmic rays are rays from outer space, but it was later discovered that cosmic rays are high-
energy particles with intrinsic mass.

The Wilson cloud chamber placed in a strong magnetic field is the best instrument for studying
cosmic rays. This kind of airtight container is filled with supersaturated steam, which will
condense when the rays pass, thus forming a particle trajectory in the steam.

In 1932, Anderson discovered the trajectory of a positron in

the Wilson cloud chamber.

The cloud chamber was very important for early subatomic

research, but it has been replaced by other particle detectors,
such as bubble chambers.

(2) Observation in bubble chamber

Bubble chamber is used to detect electrically charged particles moving through it.

The operation principle of the bubble chamber is like that of the

cloud chamber:

1) A container filled with liquid (usually liquid hydrogen) is

heated to just below its boiling point.
Liquid
2) When a positron enters the chamber, its trajectory
Particles
generates microscopic bubbles.

3) When the bubbles expand to a visible size, use a camera to

take a picture of the particle trajectory.

The entire chamber is subject to a constant magnetic field, so

its charge-to-mass ratio and velocity can be known by observing
the degree of curvature of the particle trajectory.
Why we cannot discover a positron in daily life?

(1) Positrons are extremely tiny

Both positrons and electrons are kinds of elementary particles,

and their masses are equal.

Mass of a positron or an electron: 9.11 ×10-31 kg

We cannot see them in daily life because they are very small,
even we are using an electron microscope. We can only
indirectly verify the existence of positrons and other elementary
particles through the phenomenon of experiments.

(2) Annihilation

After positrons appear, they will immediately interact with other electrons and "disappear"
(annihilation), so it is difficult for humans to preserve them. Scientists can save them by using the
magnetic field, but this method is very expensive.

After they disappear, the lost mass will be converted into energy according to E=mc2 (mass–
energy equivalence), which is also the principle of nuclear bomb explosions and star
luminescence.

Application

In medicine, the “Positron Emission Tomography” (PET) which is used to detect cancer uses
the principle of antimatter. The apparatus generates positrons. They contact with substances in
human body and then disappear. Gamma rays are produced for doctors to check the patient's
physical condition.
Reference

Positron - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positron

正電子_百度百科

https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E6%AD%A3%E7%94%B5%E5%AD%90

最早被發現的反物質-正電子 - MIT

https://web.mit.edu/yenjie/www/lm/physics/modern/q12.htm

香蕉上的鉀，平均每天會產生 19 顆「正電子」 - 報橘

https://buzzorange.com/techorange/2019/11/26/mystery-of-antimatter/

正電子：讓電子不再孤單- 每日頭條

https://kknews.cc/science/aenab2j.html

Cosmic ray - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray

Cloud chamber - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_chamber

Bubble chamber - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_chamber