pozyton

A pozyton is the antiparticle of the electron. In English, it is called the positron. It has the same mass as the electron but carries a positive electric charge (+e) and spin 1/2. The pozyton was predicted by Paul Dirac’s relativistic equation for the electron and was observed by Carl D. Anderson in 1932 in cosmic-ray experiments.

When it encounters an electron, the pozyton annihilates, producing gamma radiation. The most common outcome is two photons of 511 keV energy emitted in nearly opposite directions. A positron can also annihilate through three-photon channels, depending on the quantum state of the electron–positron pair, with lifetimes that differ for parapositronium (about 125 picoseconds) and orthopositronium (about 142 nanoseconds in vacuum; shorter in matter).

Positrons are produced in beta-plus decay, in pair production when high-energy photons interact with nuclei, and in particle accelerators. In medicine, they are utilized in positron emission tomography (PET), where radiopharmaceuticals such as fluorine-18–labeled compounds emit positrons that are detected to image metabolic processes.

In physics, the positron serves as a probe of materials and fundamental interactions, and the bound state of an electron and a positron, known as positronium, provides a test ground for quantum electrodynamics. The study of positron annihilation radiation and positronium helps explore matter structure, antimatter symmetry, and precision measurements in particle physics.