atom

against radioactive decay.[136] The most likely candidate for a stable superheavy atom, unbihexium, has 126 protons and 184 neutrons.[137]

Exotic matter
Main article: Exotic matter
Each particle of matter has a corresponding antimatter particle with the opposite electrical charge. Thus, the positron is a positively charged antielectron and the antiproton is a negatively charged equivalent of a proton. When a matter and corresponding antimatter particle meet, they annihilate each other. Because of this, along with an imbalance between the number of matter and antimatter particles, the latter are rare in the universe. The first causes of this imbalance are not yet fully understood, although theories of baryogenesis may offer an explanation. As a result, no antimatter atoms have been discovered in nature.[138][139] However, in 1996 the antimatter counterpart of the hydrogen atom (antihydrogen) was synthesized at the CERN laboratory in Geneva.[140][141]

Other exotic atoms have been created by replacing one of the protons, neutrons o