Antimatter captured by CERN scientists in dramatic physics breakthrough
Antimatter has been captured by scientists for the first time in a physics breakthrough that echoes the hit Hollywood movie Angels & Demons.

Researchers at the European Nuclear Research Centre (CERN), in Geneva claimed that they had trapped dozens of hydrogen "antimatter" atoms, a technical feat that significantly boosts research into one of the great puzzles of particle physics.

But the 38 atoms of anti-hydrogen trapped by scientists for one sixth of a second would hardly pose a threat to the Vatican.

Nor could they drive a starship, as depicted in Star Trek.

But the particles is being hailed as a major breakthrough that could help physicists develop a better understanding about the nature and origins of the universe.

It could also help unravel one of the great unsolved mysteries of the universe.

''This is a major discovery," said Prof Rob Thompson, the head of physics and astronomy at the University of Calgary, who was one of the lead scientists behind the project.

"It could enable experiments that result in dramatic changes to the current view of fundamental physics or in confirmation of what we already know now."

Under a theory expounded in 1931 by the eccentric British physicist Paul Dirac, antimatter is ordinary matter in reverse.

When energy transforms into matter, it produces a particle and its mirror image - called an anti-particle - which holds the opposite electrical charge.

Atoms normally consist of positively charged nuclei and negatively charged orbiting electrons. Their antimatter counterparts have negatively charged nuclei and positively charged electrons.

When matching matter and antimatter particles meet they instantly annihilate each other in a tremendous outburst of energy.

For this reason, antimatter has long been the stuff of science fiction.

An antimatter reactor powers the starship Enterprise in the TV series Star Trek, and in Angels & Demons a secret society hides an antimatter bomb beneath St Peter's Basilica in Rome.

Theoretically, a single pound of antimatter would contain more destructive power than the largest H-bomb.

But creating and holding onto even tiny amounts of antimatter is so costly and difficult that the chances of it being used to create the ultimate weapon are remote.

The new research, published in the journal Nature, involves scientists working at CERN which plays a pivotal role in Angels & Demons.

In the world of fiction, it is from here that terrorists steal the antimatter used to make their bomb.

In reality, an international CERN team has succeeded in producing atoms of anti-hydrogen and – more importantly – keeping it long enough to be studied.

The Alpha (Anti-hydrogen Laser Physics Apparatus) experiment used state-of-the-art techniques to cool negatively charged antiprotons – reverse versions of hydrogen nuclei – and compress them into a matchstick-sized cloud 20 millimetres long and 1.4 millimetres in diameter.

These were then introduced to a similar cold cloud of positrons, antimatter electrons.

The two kinds of particle combined to form atoms of hydrogen antimatter which were successfully trapped inside a magnetic bottle for one sixth of a second.

Previous attempts to create antimatter have only managed to generate anti-hydrogen atoms so short-lived that they hardly exist.

''We've been able to trap about 38 atoms, which is an incredibly small amount, nothing like what we would need to power Star Trek's starship Enterprise or even to heat a cup of coffee," Prof Thompson said.

''Now we can start working on the next step which is to use tools to study it.''

Jeffrey Hangst, a physicist, from the University of Aarhus, Denmark, added: "For reasons that no-one yet understands, nature ruled out antimatter.

"It is thus very rewarding, and a bit overwhelming, to look at the ALPHA device and know that it contains stable, neutral atoms of antimatter. This inspires us to work that much harder to see if antimatter holds some secret."

When the Big Bang gave birth to the universe almost 14 billion years ago, equal amounts of matter and antimatter were created, scientists believe.

But the cosmos today is completely dominated by ordinary matter. It is just as well, because otherwise the universe would be a very dangerous place in which to live. However, scientists have long wondered where all the missing antimatter has gone.

Professor Mike Charlton, a British member of the team from the University of Swansea, said: ''Hydrogen is the simplest of all atoms and anti-hydrogen is the easiest type of antimatter to produce in the laboratory.

Now they have to go after uncle matter.