A Brief History of Time

by

Stephen Hawking

Each particle has its matching antiparticle. When the two collide, they annihilate each other—in the process creating energy that is then emitted into the universe.
Get the entire A Brief History of Time LitChart as a printable PDF.
A Brief History of Time PDF

Anti-particle Term Timeline in A Brief History of Time

The timeline below shows where the term Anti-particle appears in A Brief History of Time. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...antielectrons or positrons. This later lead to his Nobel Prize. Indeed, every particle has an anti-particle, it is now known, and the two can cancel each other out. (full context)
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...can also create unstable particles, such as mesons, which are made when quarks join with antiquarks. These fit the no color rule (they are white, e.g. because a red particle joins... (full context)
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...reverse process—the production of quarks and protons. If there were regions of anti-matter (made of anti-particles), there would be a lot of radiation given off at the border with other regions,... (full context)
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...obey certain kinds of symmetries. Symmetry C refers to the laws applying to particles and anti-particles in the same way. Symmetry P is the laws being the same in a mirror... (full context)
The Search for a Unifying Theory of the Universe Theme Icon
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...force also does not obey the symmetry C, meaning it would cause a universe of anti-particles to not behave like our own. But it does obey the combined CP symmetry—meaning a... (full context)
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
The Danger of Stubbornness  Theme Icon
...universe expands and cools, forces that do not obey the symmetry of T cause more anti-electrons to become quarks than electrons to become anti-quarks, creating the matter we see today. Of... (full context)
Chapter 8
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...are produced, while at lower temperatures they are more likely to annihilate with their corresponding anti-particles. Thus, as the universe cools, fewer particles are created. (full context)
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...the universe would have been made up of photons, electrons, and neutrinos, along with their anti-particles, and some protons and neutrons. As the universe cooled, electron and anti-electron pairs would annihilate... (full context)
Chapter 9
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...obey the combined symmetries of C, P, and T. C refers to particles acting as anti-particles do. P refers to their mirror image. T refers to reversing time. Scientific laws will... (full context)
Chapter 10
Human Curiosity and Ingenuity Theme Icon
...C, P, and T symmetries, a particle going backward in time could be considered an anti-particle going forward in time. For example, black holes “emit” particles, where one component of a... (full context)