Speaker:  Jeffrey D. Richman, UC Santa Barbara and SLAC

Title:   Matter vs. Antimatter in the BaBar Experiment

Abstract:   Suppose you are assigned to meet a diplomat from another galaxy. How could you be sure beforehand that he, she, or it is made of your kind of matter, rather than antimatter? (An error on this will result in your annihilation!) Electrons and positrons are antiparticles of each other, as are protons and antiprotons. In the BaBar experiment at SLAC, we are studying the subtle differences in the behavior of matter and antimatter using mesons containing b (bottom) quarks or antiquarks. With data from hundreds of millions of electron-positron collisions at the specially designed PEP-II storage rings, we are taking a detailed look at matter-antimatter asymmetries (CP violation). These measurements allow us to test the predictions of the Standard Model and to search for effects from new kinds of physical processes. I will review our current knowledge of CP violation and describe how we are rapidly expanding our understanding of this field.

HOME