The Los Alamos Primer¶
Serber, R. (1992). The Los Alamos Primer: The First Lectures on How to Build an Atomic Bomb. University of California Press.
Cited by¶
1 citation across 1 artifact.
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Primes¶
- Critical Mass
- A system can be enormous yet subcritical (a vast but sparse population in which transmission fails to chain), and a system can be small yet supercritical (a tight, well-connected cluster that ignites).
This sourceFoundational physics of fission criticality (Section 10 computes critical mass via neutron diffusion): a fissile assembly sustains a chain reaction only once geometry, density, and reflectors push the neutron multiplication factor to one, so that position relative to threshold—not absolute size—decides the fate.
- A system can be enormous yet subcritical (a vast but sparse population in which transmission fails to chain), and a system can be small yet supercritical (a tight, well-connected cluster that ignites).
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