The discovery process of the positron, who discovered the existence of the positron?

When was the positron discovered.

It was the first time that mankind theoretically predicted the existence of antiparticles. Then, in 1932, Carl Anderson discovered and confirmed the existence of positrons through Wilson's delayering experiments on cosmic rays. Following Anderson's discovery of the positron, Chamberlais discovered the antiproton in 1955 and the neutron in 1956.

Around the 60s of the 20th century, a series of antiparticles were discovered, and the discovery of antiparticles made people think that all particles have antiparticles corresponding to them.

Soon after, a series of experiments were conducted that found that almost all particles have antiparticles, except for a few particles such as photons. Since ancient times, human beings have believed in the idea that the universe is symmetrical, and people can't help but think that since particles can form matter, why can't antiparticles form antimatter? In the current general theory of the origin of the universe, it is clearly stated that there is indeed antimatter, and it is also predicted that there should be an equal amount of matter and antimatter in the universe.

However, the road to exploring antimatter is long and difficult. It has been nearly 70 years since the discovery of the first antiparticle, and only a few antiparticles have been obtained from experiments, and the first antiatom, the antihydrogen atom, has only been synthesized in recent years. And for the other types of anti-atoms and anti-molecules that can constitute antimatter, there is still nothing, let alone antimatter.

The reason for these difficulties is that the antiparticles found are obtained from the cosmic ray pathway, and the cosmic rays first have to pass through the atmosphere as thick as 3000 km to 4000 km when they reach the earth, so most of the antiparticles in the rays have been neutralized with the particles in the atmosphere before reaching the earth. Therefore, the antiparticles that can be detected by people are extremely small, and the antiparticles are very unstable and easy to annihilate with the surrounding material particles.

Therefore, the scientists' view is that there is no possibility of antimatter in the material world we live in, and even if it exists, it will quickly neutralize with the surrounding matter. Therefore, the hope of exploring antimatter can only be pinned on the universe. In the depths of the universe, there may be a space that is completely opposite to the material world, where there will be a large amount of antimatter, based on this consideration, scientists from many countries have worked together for several years, and the "Alpha Magnetic Spectroscopy" has finally ascended into space.

After 10 days of spaceflight, it will make a preliminary survey of the presence of antimatter in the universe. By 2002, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer will be placed on the newly built Discovery space station, and large-scale detection of antimatter will begin.

Positrons are a type of elementary particles, positively charged, equal to mass and electrons, and are antiparticles of electrons. Also called positive electron. It was first predicted theoretically by Dirac.

On August 2, 1932, Anderson and others from the California Institute of Technology in the United States solemnly announced to the world that they had discovered the positron. In fact, before Anderson, there was a couple of philosophers, Joliot-Curie (son-in-law and daughter of Pierre Curie), who first observed the existence of positrons, but they did not pay attention to it and missed this great discovery. The Curies also made outstanding contributions to mankind, and in addition to missing the discovery of the positron, they also missed the discovery of the neutron and the discovery of nuclear fission, so that they reached the threshold of the Nobel Prize in physics three times but finally failed to break through.

However, they were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935 for their outstanding contributions to radioactivity.

The Joliot-Curie couple also discovered positrons in experiments with artificial nuclear reactions. In 1951, the American physicist Dowich experimentally proved that a system composed of electrons and positrons orbits each other around a common center of force, and the existence time is 10-7s. These discoveries further affirmed the existence of antiparticles and led scientists to gradually delve deeper into the mystery of antimatter.

Dirac and Anderson won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1933 and 1936, respectively.

The appearance of positrons can be observed by radiating lead plates, thin metal foils, and gaseous media with an energy higher than 1 trillion electron volts.

The discovery of the positron.

In 193o, the American physicist Anderson had already earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at the age of 25, but Anderson's chosen main research work was the exploration of cosmic rays. In order to find new rays from cosmic rays, Anderson repeatedly ascended into the air in balloons to conduct observation experiments in order to find new rays from cosmic rays. Believing that new particles could be found in it, Anderson chose Wilson's cloud chamber and placed Rainbow Dash in a strong magnetic field, through which he took more than 1,000 photographs of the trajectory of the cosmic particles**, and then carefully analyzed them one by one, just like a spy expert analyzes intelligence, lest he miss a detail.

As a result, he really discovered the valuable information revealed by the universe. He found a different kind of **, a particle that seemed to be an electron was directed to the left by a magnetic field, but if it was electric, it should be deflected to the right. After much research, Anderson discovered that this was exactly the "positive electricity" that Dirac had predicted four years earlier.

In 1932, a popular science magazine in the United States reported Anderson's findings in a very inconspicuous page. This epoch-making essay was initially wronged, but it was not buried, and it not only proved Dirac's brilliant prophecy, raised the head of a beautiful quantitative theory, but also opened the question of the antimatter world. As a result, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936.

When Anderson went to Stockholm to receive the prize, the receptionist said to him very unceremoniously: "Sir, please go back and tell your father that the winner of the prize has never sent his son to collect the prize on his behalf, and would rather have it remitted to him by the bank than to have his son in charge." "Sir, who told you that it was my father and not me that won the prize, apparently the receptionist did not believe that such a young man could win the Nobel Prize, when he was only 31 years old.

The positron is inherently present, but it is very unstable and annihilates as soon as it touches a negative electron. The two are referred to as antimatter to each other. Its generation is accompanied by decay. It is recommended to take a look at the book Quantum Physics, which is covered in detail.

At present, positrons are obtained through particle experiments, and there is basically no positron in the natural state.

If you lose your electron, you become a positron!