The Science of Extraterrestrials - Eric Julien-pages

Page 141 of 400

Page 141 of 400
The Science of Extraterrestrials - Eric Julien-pages

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CHAPTER Is the beauty of the world symmetrical? THERE ARE THREE TYPES of symmetry: C (Charge), P (Parity) and T (Time) symmetry. The characteristics of a sin- gle symmetry do not necessarily correspond to the characteristics of two or three combined symmetries. The principle of causality, which makes the existence of antimatter inevitable, is the very foundation of physics. This explains why all physical theories predict the invariance of the dynamical laws based on the combined CPT function! This invariance is verified by the mass and we c aud att aa . atta 1 lifespan of unstable particles and their anti-particle. The same phenom- enological probability is observed on either side of the mirror, even if the phenomenon itself is different. An antimatter world would verify the same laws as a matter world without being exactly the same. In other words, the invariance does not apply to the world, but to the equations that describe the dynamics common to that world. Once again, there is a difference between representation and reality. However, several catastrophes took place. In 1957, it was observed that the weak nuclear force or weak interaction did not respect the P symmetry. This interaction is one of the four fundamental forces of nature and is responsible for certain radioactive phenomena. There- fore, the mirror-image of this phenomenon...cannot be reproduced! However, that is not all. The weak interaction even violates the sym- metry under a charge conjugation without affecting the combined CP symmetry! It was then thought that the CP symmetry could be pre- served if the CPT symmetry, and therefore the T symmetry, was pre- served. To the dismay of physicists, it was discovered in 1964 that the CP symmetry too was slightly violated during the decay of neutral 133