Angels and Demons: The Real Physics of Antimatter

Abstract: 

Angels and Demons is a 2009 thriller mystery based on a best-selling novel by Dan Brown. In the movie and book, an antimatter weapon is stolen from CERN, the European laboratory for particle physics, as a part of plot to destroy the Vatican in Rome. In this special colloquium, I will discuss the real physics of antimatter, which leads to a real-life story more exciting and convoluted than a Hollywood movie. My plot involves the world's highest luminosity particle accelerator located in Tsukuba, Japan, a 2008 Nobel Physics Prize for Profs. Kobayashi and Maskawa, and the ongoing construction of a state-of-the-art particle detector called Belle II by an international consortium of 23 countries.