annihilation radiation

Annihilation radiation occurs when a particle and its antiparticle collide and destroy each other, releasing energy in the form of gamma rays. A common example is when an electron meets its antiparticle, the positron. This process results in two high-energy photons (gamma rays) being emitted, which move in opposite directions. Annihilation radiation is significant in areas like particle physics and medical imaging, particularly in positron emission tomography (PET scans), where it helps visualize processes in the body by detecting the gamma rays produced from the annihilation event.