Starfleet Academy courses. Warp Theory: Matter - Antimatter. Matter is the general term for all physical substances. It consists at the basic level from charged subatomic particles. There is also a variant of matter where the particles have the same mass and configuration, but an opposite charge: antimatter. These variants react heavily with each other, canceling each other out in a matter-antimatter reaction. This kind of reaction was widely is used to propel starships. Matter exists in four fu