GoKawiilNorthwestern physicists hold single positron in trap for over a month
A team led by Gerald Gabrielse at Northwestern University captured an individual positron—the antimatter counterpart of the electron—and kept it suspended in a vacuum trap for more than a month, publishing the results in Physical Review Letters. The positrons were produced from decaying sodium-22 atoms, then slowed using a tungsten crystal lattice before being guided by electromagnetic fields into isolation.
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Antimatter particles normally annihilate on contact with ordinary matter, so sustaining one in isolation for weeks gives researchers an unusually long window to study its quantum properties with precision. Gabrielse suggests such sustained observation could help probe why the universe appears to be dominated by matter rather than equal parts matter and antimatter, though that broader question remains unresolved.
- A single positron was trapped and studied for over a month, far longer than typical antimatter experiments allow.
- The positrons originate from the radioactive decay of sodium-22 and are slowed via collisions in a tungsten crystal before trapping.
- The long-term trap could aid investigation into the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, according to the research team.
Source: scientificamerican.com — Clara Moskowitz, 2026-10-21
Published there as: “Physicists trap a single antimatter particle for a month”
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