Searches for Cosmic Antimatter

Abstract

We know from experimental high energy physics that whenever matter is created, an equal amount of antimatter is also created. However, we live in a large region of the universe where the antimatter can not constitute more than a very small fraction of the total mass. The cosmic antimatter problem has been addressed since the beginning of modern cosmology, but no definite answer has been formulated despite of the several approaches that can be found in the literature. In this paper we will make a historical review and we will focus on the experimental techniques that has been proposed to reveal directly and indirectly the presence of cosmic antimatter in the universe. Indirect searches can be carried on with the measurements of the electromagnetic radiation in the microwave and gamma-ray range, and of the neutrino flavour, whereas direct searches lay on the measurement of the cosmic rays and probe shorter distances. Finally, the current limits on the cosmic antimatter to matter ratio are compared to the sensitivity of future experiments.

26 pages, 3 figures

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