Exotic Matter = Dangerous?

[foofighter]

I know there is a big difference between anti-matter and the hypothetical exotic matter. we might not know enough yet to tell, but regardless, i was wondering if exotic matter, strange as it may behave, would be dangerous to interact with normal matter the way antimatter is very dangerous to interact with matter?

[BenTheMan]

What do you mean by ``dangerous''?

[foofighter]

i mean can i hold a block of exotic matter without getting injured or dying

[Daecon]

I think I heard something about exotic matter transforming anything it touches, into more exotic matter...?

 

I'm sure I'm only half-remembering something about something, but does that idea sound familiar to anyone, and does it have anything to do with exotic matter?

[Klaynos]

What type of exotic matter are you referring, as it is a term that is widely used for anything that is not within the traditional classical limits...

[Jweebo]

I think I heard something about exotic matter transforming anything it touches, into more exotic matter...?

 

I'm sure I'm only half-remembering something about something, but does that idea sound familiar to anyone, and does it have anything to do with exotic matter?

 

Perhaps you are thinking of Tiberium from the Command & Conquer videogame series? I don't know much at all about exotic matter, but I'm pretty sure the C&C games explained tiberium as a kind of exotic matter that turns anything it touches into more of the same...

[foofighter]

lol this post is going way downhill, not that it was really solid from the start

 

What type of exotic matter are you referring, as it is a term that is widely used for anything that is not within the traditional classical limits...

 

i am referring to an exotic matter with the property of reverse gravity effects. gravity causes it to push away rather than attract. would interacting with such matter be harmful to humans, or just counterintuitive?

[Klaynos]

lol this post is going way downhill, not that it was really solid from the start

 

 

 

i am referring to an exotic matter with the property of reverse gravity effects. gravity causes it to push away rather than attract. would interacting with such matter be harmful to humans, or just counterintuitive?

 

If it's only exotic property is that then it'd be about as dangerouse as trying to push two N polls of magnets together...

[foofighter]

whew! i'm relieved however i suspect that if this type of matter does exist, it might possess other properties that may not be so pleasant for human contact...

[BenTheMan]

i mean can i hold a block of exotic matter without getting injured or dying

 

Well, it's called ``dark'' because it only interacts with things gravitationaly. So, for example, there are probably very many dark matter particles streaming through your body this instant, but they don't interact with you, so you don't even know they're there.

[foofighter]

bentheman - you are confusing dark matter with exotic matter. i am referring to the latter.

[BenTheMan]

bentheman - you are confusing dark matter with exotic matter. i am referring to the latter.

 

Well...maybe you can describe what you mean by exotic matter?

[foofighter]

gravity works opposite on it. it pushes away instead of attracts. other properties i'm not sure about.

[Daecon]

Perhaps you are thinking of Tiberium from the Command & Conquer videogame series? I don't know much at all about exotic matter, but I'm pretty sure the C&C games explained tiberium as a kind of exotic matter that turns anything it touches into more of the same...

 

I've not played C&C, I was referring to something based in real-world physics, but I don't remember what... it's very frustrating.

[Klaynos]

whew! i'm relieved however i suspect that if this type of matter does exist, it might possess other properties that may not be so pleasant for human contact...

 

The thing with the term exotic matter is that it can mean pretty much anything other than what we consider to be normal matter, which is why I asked for clarification. We can just about come up with any answer you like to this because the thing about exotic matter is that it's well exotic and doesn't have to obay our known laws.

[Hypercube]

That's actually a good question Foofighter. Since exotic matter is normal matter's polar opposite in terms of energy, theoretically the two of them might very well annihilate each other on contact.

[BenTheMan]

gravity works opposite on it. it pushes away instead of attracts. other properties i'm not sure about.

 

I'm not familiar with any matter which couples to gravity like this.

 

Since exotic matter is normal matter's polar opposite in terms of energy,

 

You're thinking of anti-matter.

 

theoretically the two of them might very well annihilate each other on contact.

 

Anti-matter anihilates matter. Exotic matter can be just very weakly interracting matter (i.e. dark matter, or fractionally charged fermions, or extra scalar particles with large masses).

[Klaynos]

I'm not familiar with any matter which couples to gravity like this.

 

 

 

You're thinking of anti-matter.

 

 

 

Anti-matter anihilates matter. Exotic matter can be just very weakly interracting matter (i.e. dark matter, or fractionally charged fermions, or extra scalar particles with large masses).

 

Exotic matter can be pretty much whatever you want :| so there's nothing really wrong in this thread, it's just kinda not got a good point...

[timo]

http://www.khalisi.com/jokes/physiker/newmatter.jpg

[alan2here]

lol

[Hypercube]

No, I am not thinking about antimatter Ben; but thanks anyway. Antimatter has to due with electrical charges of particles, not the type of energy they have. Exotic matter is not antimatter, it is generally considered to be matter with negative mass and energy.

[J.C.MacSwell]

No, I am not thinking about antimatter Ben; but thanks anyway. Antimatter has to due with electrical charges of particles, not the type of energy they have. Exotic matter is not antimatter, it is generally considered to be matter with negative mass and energy.

 

I usually see it referred to when strength far beyond anything known is required in some thought experiment. But otherwise it is normal matter.

[Severian]

There is such a lot of crap in this thread, so lets try and clear things up a bit.

 

Anti-matter is just like matter but with opposite quantum numbers (but the same mass and spin). It has positive energy. An example of anti-matter is the positron which is the anti-particle of the electron. When matter and its antimatter variant come into contact, they can annihilate to form photons (they do ths because the quantum numbers cancel, giving the same quantum numbers as the photon and it is energetically favourable to decay to a lighter particle).

 

Exotic matter is any type of hypothesised matter which is not a part of the Standard Model. So antimatter partners of known fields (like the positron) are not exotic matter, neither is the Higgs boson. However, supersymmetric particles are exotic matter, although nowadays people don't really call them that since so many people expect supersymmetry to be discoverd soon. An axion wold be a good example of exotic matter.

 

Notice that nothing in this definition of exotic matter implies that it will annihilate with ordinary matter. In fact, it is rather unlikely to do so since it would have to have exactly the opposite quantum numbers to some known matter particle.

[BenTheMan]

No, I am not thinking about antimatter Ben; but thanks anyway. Antimatter has to due with electrical charges of particles, not the type of energy they have. Exotic matter is not antimatter, it is generally considered to be matter with negative mass and energy.

 

Look---I must be working with a scientist's definition. If you go to arxiv.org or slac.stanford.edu/spires, and type in a search for ``exotic matter'', this is what you'll find...

---Heavier versions of the matter we already have, quarks, leptons and neutrinos. New families of standard model particles.

---fractionally charged states that we haven't seen before. These are sometimes common in string models. My advisor calls them ``scalar exotica'', or, as he likes to say ``sexotica''.

---oddball fermions that don't live in GUT multiplets. These are called chiral exotics.

---Dark matter candidates. These are electrically neutral, heavy, stable, weakly interracting particles. Sometimes called WIMPs (weakly interacting massive particles). These can come from supersymmetry (lightest neutralino or gravitino, usually), or can be in a ``hidden sector''. ``Hidden Sector'' matter will only interract with our matter via gravity, so it can't possible anihilate any of the atoms in your body.

 

What you seem to be referring to is some sort of tachyonic matter, which is generally a sign that the theory you're working with is sick... Among other things, you violate Lorentz Invariance, which would be troube.

 

And for the record, anti-matter has completely opposite quantum numbers as regular matter, not just opposite charge.

 

EDIT===========

Maybe I should have read the post above...

[Hypercube]

Why the hell does everyone think that Tachyons are impossible? If you say that Tachyons kill a theory, then relativity is false, because it also predicts the existence of Tachyons, or at least particles with an imaginary mass.