Matter Antimatter Fluctuations

This book is about the observation of a subatomic particle switching between matter and antimatter states at a mind boggling 3 trillion times per second. The spontaneous identity fluctuation represents a subtle quantum mechanical phenomenon and its analysis constitutes a high sensitivity probe of Nature's fundamental forces. The oscillation offers a glimpse of the development of the early universe, and might shed light on one of the greatest unsolved problems in science: the mystery of matter antimatter imbalance in the universe. Measuring the oscillation and the astonishing rate at which it occurs has been an all-too-elusive piece in the grand puzzle, having evaded experimental efforts pursued for two decades. The landmark measurement was achieved by the CDF experiment in the Tevatron proton antiproton collider at Fermilab. It lies on a state of the art detector capability and the development of sophisticated techniques, culminating in what is arguably the most complex analysis attempted at a hadron collider. This book provides a description of the phenomenon, and details the technique developed and employed in this measurement of historic significance.