The Physics of the Manhattan Project

The development of nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project is one of the most significant scientific events of the twentieth century. This revised and updated 3rd edition explores the challenges that faced the scientists and engineers of the Manhattan Project. It gives a clear introduction to fission weapons at the level of an upper-year undergraduate physics student by examining the details of nuclear reactions, their energy release, analytic and numerical models of the fission process, how critical masses can be estimated, how fissile materials are produced, and what factors complicate bomb design. An extensive list of references and a number of exercises for self-study are included. Links are given to several freely-available spread sheets which users can use to run many of the calculations for themselves.

List of contents

Preface.- Energy Release in Nuclear Reactions, Neutrons, Fission, and Characteristics of Fission.- Critical Mass and Efficiency.- Producing Fissile Material.- Complicating Factors.- Miscellaneous Calculations.- Appendices.- Appendix A: Selected D-Values and Fission Barriers.- Appendix B: Densities, Cross-Sections and Secondary Neutron Numbers.- Appendix C: Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision.- Appendix D: Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision That Produces a Gamma-Ray.- Appendix E: Formal Derivation of the Bohr-Wheeler Spontaneous Fission Limit.- Appendix F: Average Neutron Escape Probability From Within a Sphere.- Appendix G: The Neutron Diffusion Equation.- Appendix H: Exercises and Answers.- Appendix I: Glossary of Symbols.- Appendix J: Further Reading.- Appendix K: Useful Constants and Conversion Factors.

Product details

• Authors: Bruce Cameron Reed
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Original title: The Physics of the Manhattan Project
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 23.08.2016
• EAN: 9783662519868
• ISBN: 978-3-662-51986-8
• No. of pages: 222
• Dimensions: 155 mm x 13 mm x 235 mm
• Weight: 375 g
• Illustrations: XVII, 222 p. 70 illus.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Physics, astronomy > Atomic physics, nuclear physics; Physik, Plasmaphysik, B, Wissenschaftsphilosophie und -theorie, Kernenergie und Kerntechnik (Nuklearenergie, Nukleartechnik), Kernchemie, Photochemie und Strahlung, Philosophy of Science, History of Science, Physics, Nuclear Fusion, Nuclear Chemistry, Physics and Astronomy, Nuclear Energy, Nuclear chemistry, photochemistry & radiation, Nuclear power & engineering, Philosophical Foundations of Physics and Astronomy, History and Philosophical Foundations of Physics, Nuclear power and engineering