Sub-atomic particles moving backwards in time?

Question

I read somewhere in a book that "sub-atomic particles apppear to move backwards in time". I dont know anything about sub-atomic particles and I dont understand how this is possible. Can anyone explain in plain english what this means? It sounds facinating to me.

Answer 1

For every particle (neutron, proton, electron, etc.) there is an anti-particle; there is an anti-electron, for example. The anti-particles have the opposite of certain properties of the particle. The anti-electron has a positive charge and is more commonly called a positron.

When energetic particles collied, as when cosmic rays hit the atmosphere or particles collide in a particle accelerator, new particles may be created. When new particles are created, they are always created in pairs with a regular matter particle and its anti-matter particle being created at the same time.

Usually, an anti-particle flies off and hits a matter particle and the two anhilate each other. However, under certain circumstances (sorry, I don't know what they are), anti-particles travel backwards in time. The posting above is correct that the test results are interpreted by a "theory" that anti-particles travel backward in time, but is incorrect by saying that this is "only" a theory. In science, unlike popular culture, the word "theory" represents the highest level of proof. In this case, the backwards travel theory explains the test results completely, and there is no other theory that explains them at all. For practical purposes, it has been proven that anti-particles can travel backwards in time.

A recent popular book on subatomic physics is Warped Universe which reviews the Standard Model in detail (about 200 p.) and discusses String Theory and branes in detail (about 300 p.) You can buy that new at amazon.com or used through http://www.bookfinder.com or you may find it at your public or school library.

You can also write to me with further questions.

Check out these articles:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimatter
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiparticle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_model
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_theory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branes

Answer 2

Subatomic particles are matter that are smaller than atoms. A gluon for example. And subatomic particles moving back in time is just a theory. a theory. unconfirmed, but possible. there are lots of books on this. it kinda takes alot of time to build onto this part of quantum physics if you don't know anything about it. i would suggest reading some books about it? Chaos: Making a New Science by James Gleick is the best book i've read about physics. take a look, you'll be amazed if you are already this interested in subatomic particles. also, another book that is amazing is Hyperspace : A Scientific Odyssey Through Parallel Universes, Time Warps, and the 10th Dimension by Michio Kaku. That book is very interesting, and full of the developments of theories. it'll build to subatomic particles. however, both these books take a while to understand. I had to reread these 2 books each twice to understand them. I'm making these suggestions taking that you have went through all, or at least half of high school physics. have fun discovering

Answer 3

Yes, in the current theoretical framework, particles can travel backwards in time. However, it's probably good to mention that the newest, developing theories are suggesting that time does not really extist in the way we think of it...it's an illusion. THAT is strange....actually, it sounds crazy....but it all depends on how you define time.

Answer 4

i'm not a well educated person in this area... but it may have to do with quantum physics and how sub atomic particles can be in two places at once...or that we cannot know their location and speed. there are some good websites around about them, particleadventure.org is one. there are also a lot of good books about quantum physics that explain it to un-scientists like myself.

Answer 5

"It's an illusion. THAT is strange....actually, it sounds crazy....but it all depends on how you define time."

Its not as crazy as it sounds, how often have you FORGOTTEN the time when involved in something interesting or just been plain old preoccupied with something that wasn't.

Its the grandest illusion of them all.