Electrons are made up of a negative electrical charge, and scientists at JILA have been trying to measure how evenly that charge is spread between the north and south pole of the electron. Any unevenness would indicate that the electron is not perfectly round, and that would be evidence of an asymmetry in the early universe that led to the existence of matter. The Cornell Group at JILA studied how the electrons in molecules behaved as they adjusted the magnetic field around them to look for any shift in the electrons.
Credit: JILA/Steven Burrows
In the first moments of our universe, countless numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons formed alongside their antimatter counterparts. As the universe expanded and cooled, almost all these matter and antimatter particles met and annihilated each other, leaving only photons, or flashes of light, in their wake.
And if the universe were perfectly symmetrical, with equal amounts of matter and antimatter, that would be the end of the story — and we would never have existed. But there must have been an imbalance — some leftover protons, neutrons and electrons — that formed atoms, molecules, stars, planets, galaxies and eventually, people.
“If the universe had been perfectly symmetrical, then there would be nothing left but light. This is a hugely important moment in history. Suddenly there is stuff in the universe, and the question is, why?” said NIST/JILA Fellow Eric Cornell. “Why do we have this asymmetry?”
The mathematical theories and equations that explain our universe call for symmetry. Particle theorists have refined these theories to tackle the presence of asymmetry. But without evidence, those theories are just math, Cornell explains, so experimental physicists including his group at JILA have been looking at fundamental particles such as electrons for ..
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