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Physical Sciences: Distribution of Antimatter in the Universe

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Abstract

THERE has recently been some interest in the question of the existence of antimatter in the universe. In relation to this problem, Steigman1 has shown that if space were filled with an equal mixture of matter and antimatter, the γ-ray flux resulting from nucleon–antinucleon antihilation would be far above the observed limits2–4. But this does not rule out the possibility that matter and antimatter may exist separately in large regions consisting solely of one type, perhaps in the form of galaxies and antigalaxies, or even clusters of galaxies and anticlusters. The purpose of this report is to find a lower limit to the mass of such regions, if they exist, by using some of the basic conclusions derived from galaxy formation theories in a big-bang universe5.

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References

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JONES, J., JONES, B. Physical Sciences: Distribution of Antimatter in the Universe. Nature 227, 475–476 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/227475a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/227475a0

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