Antimatter weapon

Short description: Theoretical weapon using antimatter

Antimatter

Annihilation

Devices

* Particle accelerator
* Penning trap
* Wilson chamber

Antiparticles

* Positron
* Antiproton
* Antineutron

Uses

* Positron emission tomography
* Fuel

Bodies

* ALPHA Collaboration
* ATHENA
* ATRAP
* CERN
* RHIC

People

* Paul Dirac
* Carl David Anderson
* Andrei Sakharov

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Template:Weapons of mass destruction An antimatter weapon is a theoretically possible device using antimatter as a power source, a propellant, or an explosive for a weapon. Antimatter weapons are currently too costly and unreliable to be viable in warfare, as producing antimatter is enormously expensive (estimated at US$6 billion for every 100 nanograms), the quantities of antimatter generated are very small, and current technology has great difficulty containing antimatter, which annihilates upon touching ordinary matter.[1]

The paramount advantage of such a theoretical weapon is that antimatter and matter collisions result in the entire sum of their mass energy equivalent being released as energy, which is at least two orders of magnitude greater than the energy release of the most efficient fusion weapons (100% vs 0.4–1%).[2] Annihilation requires and converts exactly equal masses of antimatter and matter by the collision which releases the entire mass-energy of both, which for 1 gram is ~9×1013 joules. Using the convention that 1 kiloton TNT equivalent equals 4.184×1012 joules (or one trillion calories of energy), one half gram of antimatter reacting with one half gram of ordinary matter (one gram total) results in 21.5 kilotons-equivalent of energy (the same as the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945).[3]

## Contents

* 1 Cost
* 2 Antimatter-catalyzed weapons
* 3 In popular culture
* 4 References
* 5 External links

## Cost

As of July 2024[update], the cost of producing one millionth of a gram of antimatter was estimated at US $62 billion.[1][4] By way of comparison, the cost of the Manhattan Project (to produce the first atomic bomb) is estimated at US$23 billion in 2007 prices.[5] As such, Hui Chen of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory dismissed concerns about antimatter bombs in 2008 as "unrealistic".[6]

## Antimatter-catalyzed weapons

Antimatter-catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion proposes the use of antimatter as a "trigger"[7] to initiate small nuclear explosions; the explosions provide thrust to a spacecraft. The same technology could theoretically be used to make very small and possibly "fission-free" (very low nuclear fallout) weapons (see pure fusion weapon).[8][9]

## In popular culture

An antimatter weapon is a part of the plot of the Dan Brown book Angels & Demons and its film adaptation, where it is used in a plot to blow up the Vatican City.[10]

The Ground Zero expansion pack of the video game Quake II requires the protagonist to manufacture an Antimatter Bomb in the Munitions Plant to achieve the final objective.[11]

In the Star Trek franchise, Federation starships are armed with photon torpedoes which contain antimatter warheads.[12]

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons / Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order". San Francisco Chronicle. 4 October 2004. http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Air-Force-pursuing-antimatter-weapons-Program-2689674.php.
2. ↑ "Fusion Fuel". http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fusionfuel.php.
3. ↑ "Antimatter Fuel". http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/antimatterfuel.php.
4. ↑ McKeown, Matthew (18 December 2023). "Antimatter Tops List Of World's Most Expensive Material At $62 Trillion Per Gram". https://www.trillmag.com/news/science/antimatter-tops-list-of-worlds-most-expensive-material-at-62-trillion-per-gram/.
5. ↑ "Manhattan Project". http://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history-of-nuclear-testing/manhattan-project.
6. ↑ "Laser technique produces bevy of antimatter" (in en). NBC News. 1 December 2008. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27998860.
7. ↑ "Antimatter weapons". http://cui.unige.ch/isi/sscr/phys/anti-BPP-3.html.
8. ↑ Ramsey, Syed (12 May 2016). Tools of War: History of Weapons in Modern Times. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. ISBN 9789386019837. https://books.google.com/books?id=aUk5DAAAQBAJ&q=thermonuclear+arbitrarily+high+number+of+stages&pg=PT241. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
9. ↑ "Details on antimatter triggered fusion bombs - NextBigFuture.com". 22 September 2015. http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/09/details-on-antimatter-triggered-fusion.html.
10. ↑ Delphine. "Angels & Demons: The Physics Behind The Movie (and The Book)" (in en-us). Wired. https://www.wired.com/2011/10/angels-demons-the-physics-behind-the-movie-and-the-book/.
11. ↑ Degorram (2020-09-23). QUAKE 2: Ground Zero | Part 25 | Anti-Matter Bomb. Retrieved 2024-08-02 - via YouTube.
12. ↑ Whitfild, Stephen E.; Roddenberry, Gene (1991). The Making of Star Trek (Twenty-seventh Print ed.). New York, NY: Ballantine Books. ISBN 0345340191.

## External links

* Spotlight on "Angels and Demons" – A discussion at CERN's public website on the viability of the use of antimatter for energy and weaponry
* "Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons: Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order"
* Page discussing the possibility of using antimatter as a trigger for a thermonuclear explosion
* Paper discussing the number of antiprotons required to ignite a thermonuclear weapon

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