A multinational group of scientists, including South Koreans, has discovered that the force between antiprotons is strong and attractive, just like the nuclear force that holds normal protons together.
 
In research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the STAR Collaboration group, which includes researchers from the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information and Pusan National University, said it succeeded for the first time in measuring the forces of interaction between antiprotons.
 
Using antiprotons created by colliding gold nuclei, the group found that there are interactive forces between antiprotons similar to those between protons, and that the distance between antiprotons is the same as between protons.
 
The group undertook the project to find any asymmetry between protons and antiprotons, which could explain the disappearance of antimatter that was believed to have existed in equal amounts with matter at the time of the Big Bang. 
 
The scientists believe any trace of asymmetry between matter and antimatter could eventually help solve the mystery of the creation of the universe.
 
A total of 52 research institutes from 10 countries, including the U.S., India, China, Russia and South Korea, participated in the project.