Proof of Antimatter, Anti-gravity Found

A new analysis of the data from NASA's Deep Impact mission has given the world proof positive that large quantities of antimatter exist in our solar system's distant Oort Cloud, the region of space between our star and the next, where comets lurk.

The evidence made a significant impact of its own on two scientific fields, confirming two related cutting-edge hypotheses. The first was gravitational, having vast implications on our knowledge of how the universe operates on the largest scales. The other dealt with the smallest of the small, the quantum particles that make up the building blocks of all matter. Yet the two, like their respective experimental results, are inextricably tied.

On July 4, 2005, a probe sent to crash into comet 9P/Temple 1 made contact, the first such event in human history. While intensive study of the material ejected in the impact continues to this day, one curious event provided the answer to a long-standing question: does antimatter have anti-gravity?

The Theory:

Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity revolutionized our understanding of gravity, redefining it as a bending of time and space around a massive object, very much like placing something heavy on a trampoline creates a downward bulge. Before Einstein, we thought of gravity as a force that existed between objects, like magnetic attraction. Now we know that gravity is indirect; the 'force' comes from one object effectively sliding 'downhill' toward another.

But, unlike all the other forces in the universe, gravity seemed to only work one way; where magnets can attract or repel, gravity was thought to be only attractive. Until Deep Impact, that is.

It has long been theorized that antimatter, being matter's 'mirror image', was exactly the opposite in every way. Recently, a small group of physicists working on an offshoot of Relativity, called 'Zero Sum theory', wondered if that included the way each curved space, creating gravity. If so, it would be indistinguishable from 'normal' gravity for the most part - except on those occasions when matter and antimatter come close to each other.

If antimatter really does have an anti-gravitational effect, and it naturally exists within the confines of our galaxy, then it should drift toward areas as far from the gravity wells caused by 'normal' matter as possible. The nearest such regions would, of course, be the gaps between the stars, where the tug of matter's pull would be minimized.

That happens to be the same region of space where comets usually form.

The Experiment:

Following this line of reasoning, it was proposed that a portion of comets are composed, at least in part, of antimatter material (previous experiments have shown that matter and antimatter can coexist without destroying each other). The simplest way to test this prediction, and prove that antimatter does exist in the far reaches of the solar system - and that it does create gravity's opposite - is to see what happens when an object of known matter is brought into close proximity with the nucleus of a comet.

If the comet is composed of normal matter, then the gravitational interaction between it and the object will go as normal. If it is composed of antimatter, but the prediction of anti-gravity isn't correct, then things will still go as normal. But, if there is antimatter in the comet, and it bends space in the opposite way to create the anti-gravity effect, then the object will be somewhat 'deflected' by the repulsion of the antimatter's negative gravity.

The Deep Impact mission provided the perfect opportunity to put the idea to the test.

Impact:

Data from the probe set to collide with Temple 1 showed an odd quirk just before contact. Traveling at several times the speed of sound towards each other, with no other influences in sight, the probe seemed to deflect downwards, away from the comet.

Images from the probe itself show the alignment with 'dead center' moving further and further off as the critical moment approached. In just a few seconds, the impactor's targeting system showed real movement in the relative trajectories of the two bodies. Rather than being helped by gravity, the probe was being pushed away.

The telemetry from the mission revealed that if the velocities of the comet and probe weren't so high, the probe may well have been diverted entirely off course, totally missing its target, and never fulfilling the mission it was designed for. As it was, the probe was shunted several miles (and almost a full second) away from its target area, only catching the comet's nucleus by a tiny margin.

It was enough. With that one interplanetary shower of dust and debris, the tentatively titled 'Zero Sum' theory was verified. It would take three years of detailed research to be certain of what had happened, but it was worth the wait. For the first time in a century, our understanding of gravity has been radically redefined.

Thanks to Deep Impact, we've learned a lot more than we ever dreamed possible. In addition to revealing what makes up the inside of a comet, and casting a new light on the elements that made up the early solar system, the mission showed us that antimatter exists, out there in the void between the stars, and that gravity's negative is real. Grasping the full implications of these amazing discoveries may take us several years more.