Muonium: How Antimatter Falls in Gravity ⚡ экспресс
Imagine tossing a tennis ball and an iron ball—they fall the same way. Scientists want to check if this holds true for particles from other 'generations' of matter. They've managed to create a bright beam of muonium (a bound state of particles), opening the door to the first test of this principle for exotic second-generation antimatter. What do you think—will they fall the same?
Every object in a vacuum falls with the same acceleration — that's the foundation of Einstein's gravity Einstein. But so far, this rule has only been tested on particles of ordinary matter. Now muonium enters the game: an exotic atom where the nucleus is an antimuon and the shell is an ordinary electron. This hybrid lives for two microseconds; trapping it into a dense beam seemed like science fiction.
The solution lies in superfluid helium. Its thin film, free of friction, acts like a catapult factory. Muons piercing through it strip off electrons, and these fly out as a single 'plug'. The swarm's speed is about 2180 m/s, and all particles race nearly identically, like a gunshot.
The main goal is to measure their acceleration of fall for the first time with percent-level precision. A deviation would mean a crack in physics. And along the way, the cold beam will allow more precise weighing of the muon and testing theory with spectroscopy.
🎯 Superfluid helium flows through pores without friction, pulling out the short-lived muonium into a neat beam — like a quantum illusionist.