Gravitational matter-antimatter impact interactions

Abstract

The production of antihydrogen by several research groups will provide the opportunity to measure the gravitational behaviour of antimatter in the gravitational field of the Earth. The predictions in the literature reach from normal attraction to repulsion. Applying our gravitational impact model, we conclude -after a significant modification -that there will be neither attraction nor repulsion. The modification consists of the assumption of a symmetric graviton-antigraviton environment. The model, in addition, predicts normal gravitation between antimatter and antimatter particles at large distances, but strong repulsion at close range for matter pairs as well as for antimatter pairs, whereas strong attraction will result for matter-antimatter encounters.