Britannica AI Icon

Quick Summary

Antihydrogen is the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen. Antimatter is composed of subatomic particles with opposite electric charges and magnetic moments compared to ordinary matter. For instance, antihydrogen consists of a positron (positive charge) orbiting an antiproton (negative charge).12

When matter and antimatter come into contact, they annihilate each other, releasing significant energy. While positrons and antiprotons have been created and studied, large amounts of antimatter have not been observed in the universe, posing a puzzle for cosmology and particle physics known as matter-antimatter asymmetry.2

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
2 Britannica Sources
  1. antihydrogen
  2. antimatter

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.