Subatomic Debris

[jomifl]

What happens to the subatomic debris that results from the awsome happenings in the universe. Do pi mesons and their chums just drift around 'til the end of time adding to the accumulating heaps of dark matter?

[Retrochic]

no they decay

[jomifl]

into sub-sub atomic particles?

[Old_Geezer]

Doesn't everything end up as energy ?

Anyway everyone knows God recycles.

[beso]

Neutral Pions decay inot gamma rays. Charged Pions ultimately decay into an electron or positron and a combination of three neutrinos and antineutrinos.

Being anitmatter, Positrons are annihilated in collisions with electrons. Electrons join in articipations with ordinary matter. The neutrinos and antineutrinos fly off to join the myriad of their kind that permeate the universe.

Whether they become part of the dark matter is still in debate because we still don't know the nature of Dark Matter. Personally I doubt it consists of neutrinos.

[jomifl]

Beso, does that mean that the universe will eventually be converted into neutrinos?

[ToraToraTora]

depends on the particle, but physicists seem pretty sure that what we know as matter is entirely different from what we all dark matter.

[jomifl]

I thought it was called 'dark matter' because we don't know what it is.

[ToraToraTora]

yes but we know what it is not.

[Hypognosis]

Interesting thread concept.

Apropos of nothing (©V. Lewis-Smith)…

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank+zappa/cosmik+debris_20056562.html

(Wanted to post a video but all LP versions have been blatted and the live versions, remaining, are… of variable quality).