Preface to the Third Edition; References; Contents; About the Author; Chapter 1: Energy Release in Nuclear Reactions, Neutrons, Fission, and Characteristics of Fission; 1.1 Notational Conventions for Mass Excess and Q-Values; 1.2 Rutherford and the Energy Release in Radium Decay; 1.3 Rutherford́ s First Artificial Nuclear Transmutation; 1.4 Discovery of the Neutron; 1.5 Artificially-Induced Radioactivity and the Path to Fission; 1.6 Energy Release in Fission; 1.7 The Bohr-Wheeler Theory of Fission: The Z2/A Limit Against Spontaneous Fission; 1.8 Energy Spectrum of Fission Neutrons
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1.9 Leaping the Fission Barrier1.10 A Semi-Empirical Look at the Fission Barrier; 1.11 A Numerical Model of the Fission Process; 1.11.1 Volume and Surface Areas; Volume Conservation; 1.11.2 Surface and Coulomb Energies; 1.11.3 Results; References; Chapter 2: Critical Mass and Efficiency; 2.1 Neutron Mean Free Path; 2.2 Critical Mass: Diffusion Theory; 2.3 Effect of Tamper; 2.4 Estimating Bomb Efficiency: Analytic; 2.5 Estimating Bomb Efficiency: Numerical; 2.5.1 A Simulation of the Hiroshima Little Boy Bomb; 2.6 Another Look at Untamped Criticality: Just One Number
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2.7 Critical Mass of a Cylindrical Core (Optional)References; Chapter 3: Producing Fissile Material; 3.1 Reactor Criticality; 3.2 Neutron Thermalization; 3.3 Plutonium Production; 3.4 Electromagnetic Separation of Isotopes; 3.5 Gaseous (Barrier) Diffusion; References; Chapter 4: Complicating Factors; 4.1 Boron Contamination in Graphite; 4.2 Spontaneous Fission of 240Pu, Predetonation, and Implosion; 4.2.1 Little Boy Predetonation Probability; 4.2.2 Fat Man Predetonation Probability; 4.3 Predetonation Yield; 4.4 Tolerable Limits for Light-Element Impurities; References
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6.5 Appendix E: Formal Derivation of the Bohr-Wheeler Spontaneous Fission Limit6.5.1 Introduction; 6.5.2 Nuclear Surface Profile and Volume; 6.5.3 The Area Integral; 6.5.4 The Coulomb Integral and the SF Limit; 6.6 Appendix F: Average Neutron Escape Probability from Within a Sphere; 6.7 Appendix G: The Neutron Diffusion Equation; 6.8 Appendix H: Exercises and Answers; 6.9 Appendix I: Glossary of Symbols; 6.10 Appendix J: Further Reading; 6.10.1 General Works; 6.10.2 Biographical and Autobiographical Works; 6.10.3 Technical Works; 6.10.4 Websites
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Chapter 5: Miscellaneous Calculations5.1 How Warm Is It?; 5.2 Brightness of the Trinity Explosion; 5.3 A Model for Trace Isotope Production in a Reactor; References; Chapter 6: Appendices; 6.1 Appendix A: Selected Delta-Values and Fission Barriers; 6.2 Appendix B: Densities, Cross-Sections, Secondary Neutron Numbers, and Spontaneous-Fission Half-Lives; 6.2.1 Thermal Neutrons (0.0253eV); 6.2.2 Fast Neutrons (2MeV); 6.3 Appendix C: Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision; 6.4 Appendix D: Energy and Momentum Conservation in a Two-Body Collision That Produces a Gamma-Ray
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SUMMARY OR ABSTRACT
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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