[net.space] Matter-Antimatter and particles near the speed of light

@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:jrv@mitre-bedford (06/05/85)

From: jrv@Mitre-Bedford

>> To make antimatter, the current technology is to bash high-speed particles
>> (protons are popular) into a target, which creates "lots" of particle--anti-
>> particle pairs, some of which are separated by magnets (before they
>> recombine).

> I believe that I've heard that antimatter is also produced whenever a particle
> is accelerated very close to the speed of light...
>
>                                         Tony Guzzi
>                                         <tonyg%uconn.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>

Merely accelerating matter doesn't produce antimatter.  However, if you
*Accelerate* a *charged* particle (by forcing it to travel in a circle, for
example), you will produce *photons* (synchrotron radiation, in this case).
				     - Jim Van Zandt

@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:jrv@mitre-bedford (06/06/85)

From: jrv@Mitre-Bedford

>         Is the path of the photon normal to the path of the particle? (if the
> particle is moving in a circle, I suppose I should say normal to the tangent
> of the photon's path)
>
>                                         Rick.

For nonrelativistic particles, the radiation from an accelerated charged
particle is mostly normal to the path
of the particle.  For relativistic particles, the radiation is forward
(like headlights on a car).  (See Jackson, _Classical Electrodynamics_,
2nd edition, page 663, figure 14.4)
				      - Jim Van Zandt

@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC.ARPA:mcgeer%ucbkim@Berkeley (06/06/85)

From: Rick McGeer (on an aaa-60-s) <mcgeer%ucbkim@Berkeley>

	Hmm.  In either case, with appropriate mirrors, we have a "Dean
Machine", albeit not a very powerful one.

				Rick.