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When matter meets antimatter, they annihilate each other within fractions of a second. In the process, the entire mass is converted into energy. However, this annihilation process can be delayed if the particle density is extremely low and the…

On the occasion of the farewell of its long-time director Prof. Dr. Siegfried ("Siggi") Bethke, the Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) cordially invites to an honorary colloquium on May 16, 2023, 3:00 pm.

The proton is one of three building blocks of the atom. Thus protons, together with neutrons and electrons, form the matter we know. Since the 1960s, we have known that a proton consists of three quarks. However, researchers now have a much more…

Black holes as quantum computers? Sounds like science fiction, but it is a realistic scenario. No other system stores quantum information as efficiently as black holes. It is therefore conceivable that intelligent extraterrestrial civilizations could…

String theory is a theory to unify two otherwise incompatible concepts: It creates a mathematical substructure to accommodate both quantum physics and gravity. With string theory our reality would not be composed of particles, but of tiny, vibrating…

Since March 2019, the Belle II detector has been measuring decays of B mesons, a particular type of quark pair. Previous experiments had shown that B and anti-B mesons decay at different rates, i.e., exhibit CP violation. Belle II is intended to…

The Max Planck Institute for Physics (MPP) has a new Head of Administration: Sabine Krabichler succeeds Andreas Hartmann.

Dark matter is essential for understanding the rotation speed of stars in galaxies and the motion of galaxies in clusters. But what exactly is dark matter? This question has occupied researchers for decades. But it is not only observations of…

The MAGIC telescopes on La Palma are on the hunt for dark matter. For 233 observational hours, their cameras were pointed at the center of the Milky Way, our home galaxy. Scientists suspect a particularly large accumulation of non-luminous, invisible…

As of January 1, 2023, there are new spokespersons in the research collaborations MAGIC and AWAKE. The choice fell on two scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Physics. Patric Muggli will in future represent for the AWAKE project at CERN,…