Matter-antimatter symmetry measurement sets new precision record

Per Physics World, scientists at CERN have set a new precision record for measuring antihydrogen. The ALPHA collaboration measured hyperfine splitting—an internal energy property—in antihydrogen atoms to four parts per million, roughly one hundred times more precise than previous experiments. The significance: theory says the Big Bang should have produced equal quantities of matter and antimatter, yet the universe today contains almost entirely matter. By comparing this property in antihydrogen to ordinary hydrogen with unprecedented precision, researchers search for subtle asymmetries that might explain this cosmic imbalance. The latest measurement revealed no discrepancies, but the team plans to refine their techniques to push precision even higher.

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