s6nadavi
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3 years ago Today we are having a look at the antimatter version of the proton: the antiproton! It was discovered in 1955 at the Bevatron that was part of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The Bevatron was a huge particle accelerator that was used to accelerate and store particles and you can have a look at it in this depiction. The anti-particle was created by using a beam of protons with an energy 6.3 GeV that was directed onto a fixed target. But the physicists back then weren't sure what to expect before starting this experiment. Although the anti-proton was theoretically predicted only some were convinced that the anti-protons could be detected, whereas other highly doubted the possibility of discovering this particle with the Bevatron. One research group, which was very invested in the hunt for the anti-proton was led by E. Segrè with the support of O. Chamberlain. On October 6th in 1955 at the group had evidence for 38 particles out of several million created particles that were negatively charged and had the same mass as the proton. After verifying this finding over the course of the following weeks the research group published its discovery of the anti-proton. This experimental result led to Segrè and Chamberlain being honoured with the Nobel Prize in 1959.
https://www.symmetrymagazine.org/article/october-2009/antiproton-discovery
http://www2.riken.jp/ap/conf/slowpbar/presen/15_PM_6_Eades.pdf