Physicists believe that when time began at the Big Bang, matter and antimatter were created in equal amounts. Based on recent measurements made at CERN laboratories in Switzerland, it seems that there is perfect symmetry between the two. Which they say implies that our universe should not exist.
Michio Kaku explains what anti-matter is and how it's different from regular matter.
Michio Kaku:
"Anti-matter is the mirror image of ordinary matter. It's extremely rare. If I had some in my hand, it would look like ordinary matter. Is has the same chemical properties. Except, if I touch it explode and destroy all of New York City, parts of Connecticut and New Jersey. Every Star Trek fan knows this is the greatest energy source in the universe - matter/anti-matter collision."
Reporter:
"What is it about this symmetry between matter and anti-matter that leads certain physicists to this conclusion that we shouldn't exist?"
Michio Kaku:
"At the instance of the Big Bang, there should have been equal quantities of matter and anti-matter. Which was annihilated, driving the Big Bang. So, by right, we shouldn't be here because we have more matter than anti-matter in our sector of the galaxy. We've looked for anti-galaxies. We've looked for anti-planets. We don't see any. (Jokingly) There should be anti-people, anti-love, anti-CBS. But we see no evidence of that at all. So physicists say by rights, we shouldn't exist. This means at the instance of the Big Bang, there was a slight over-abundance of matter over anti-matter and here we are as a consequence. Now, why? This is one of the greatest mysteries in our physics. We are clueless to understand why."
Reporter:
"Tell us more about these experiments at CERN to answer or at least try to answer this question."
Michio Kaku:
"Well, they take an atom-smasher and they take the energy out of it and put it in a bottle. It's called a magnetic bottle. You can actually trap anti-hydrogen, anti-electrons floating around anti-protons. And when they actually measure the properties, it's exactly like ordinary hydrogen, except of course they would annihilate if they touch each other. And that's so frustrating, you want to tear your hair out. They were looking for asymmetry between matter and anti-matter and they found none. And so that's the mystery. Why do we exist at all? By rights, we shouldn't be here. By rights, we shouldn't even exist. We should have been disintegrated at the instance of the Big Bang."
Reporter:
"Well, I'm sure there are all kinds of theories out there, but what are physicists kind of focusing on. Is there one theory, two theories that are kind of the main focus?"
Michio Kaku:
"Well, the leading theory is something called String Theory, which is what I do for a living. I'm one of the founders of the subject years ago, but even string theory has a hard time because I kind of have to put it in my hand. And we want the theory to naturally come out, like over-abundance of matter over anti-matter. Which explains why we don't see anti-galaxies out there and anti-planets, but we have a hard time doing it. So right now, nobody has a convincing answer to the question. Why should we be here?"
