Antimatter Weapons

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A antimatter weapon is detonated in deep space (color shifted into the visible spectrum)

Antimatter weapons generally derive their energy from matter/antimatter reactions and have extreme destructive power — a typical antimatter weapon can match the destructive capacity of a nuclear weapon using a fraction of the material. The highest yield antimatter weapons are capable of destroying the entire crust and mantle of a Class M world. Most cultures do not develop antimatter weapons until entering their relative space ages, if at all--the weapons are so dangerous to develop that some civilizations simply abandon the technology in pursuit of other programs. If, on the rare occasion that a planet does develop such weapons before their space age, the effect is almost always devastating.

Common types

Total Conversion bombs

Total Conversion bombs (see: Photon Torpedo) derive their power from the annihilation of antiparticles--that is, the direct contact of a particle of matter with it's antiparticle (a positron meeting an electron, for example). These weapons are called photon weapons or photonic weapons, because the energy released in these types of reactions are in the form of electromagnetic radiaion (light), specifically gamma rays in the above example.

In general, photonic weapons suspend matter and antimatter in a device called a Penning trap, which uses a combination of magnetic and electric fields to hold the particles near the center of a vacuum. Upon a signal from the onboard detonation circuitry, the fields collapse and drive the matter and antimatter together, converting their entire collective rest mass to energy. The reaction of 1 kg of antimatter with 1 kg of matter can produce (at 100% efficiency) 1.8×10¹⁷ joules of energy (by the equation E=mc²).

Antimatter bombs

Antimatter bombs are similar in operation to total conversion bombs, except that these weapons do not contain significant amounts of matter in the warhead design, and instead collide a packet of "naked" antimatter with the target. These types of weapons have an advantage in that they are almost guaranteed to damage a physical target (there is no known means to keep antimatter from "dissolving" through matter except by keeping it away from matter through the use of magnetic bottles of forcefields), but can usually be blocked by deflector shields.

These weapons are generally less efficient than total-conversion devices, as it is inherently difficult to control the reaction of the antimatter in the warhead with the matter of the target. Since the delivery mechanism is usually destroyed in the detonation, no magnetic fields or other containment devices can be used to keep the reaction elements from exploding outwards, dissipating the weapon’s energy.

Antimatter weapons are often described as either antimatter bombs or total-conversion devices based on the dominant source of the weapon's energy. The distinction between these two types of weapon can blurred by the fact that applications of either technology are sometimes combined in complex photonic weapons: a smaller total-conversion bomb is first used to reach the necessary conditions of high temperature and energy density to allow the directed (see: shaped charge) release of a stream of antimatter into a target. A similar technology is used in the pre-detonation stages of the Quantum Torpedo.

Antimatter spreads

Antimatter spreads are often used as a form of radiological counter-measures, a thin dispersal of antimatter particles spread over a wide area. When an antimatter spread is released, the random annihilation of the antiparticles with interstellar hydrogen and particulate matter releases energetic gamma radiation and other particles, which can be used to confuse a starship's sensors. This is a radioactive event, so it can pose a health hazard similar to that of nuclear fallout.

Terminium bombs

Many military organizations use Terminium in the outer shell and skin construction of their photonic weaponry. Terminium is a strong absorber of gamma rays (far better than lead), and in a weapon this property can be used to convert photonic energy into kinetic energy, producing explosions of adjustable thermal, blast and electromagnetic effects. Other substances can be used to "salt" antimatter weaponry in order to create dangerous amounts of theta radiation.

Antimatter Fission/Fusion bombs

Antimatter Fission or Antimatter Fusion are almost identical in operation and design to conventional nuclear weapons, except they use antimatter instead of matter in their payloads, and utilize the necessary magnetic fields necessary to keep the payloads from detonating prematurely. As normal antimatter weapons (most notable total-conversion bombs) use up most, if not all, of the rest energy of their payloads, detonating them as nuclear weapons provides no net extra energy, however this option has been used to confuse sensors in a similar manner to an antimatter spread.

Effects of a antimatter explosion

The energy released from an antimatter weapon comes in four primary categories:

• Blast— (varies depending on weapon configuration)
• Thermal radiation— (varies depending on weapon configuration)
• Gamma radiation— (varies depending on weapon configuration)
• Theta radiation (fallout)— (varies depending on weapon configuration)

The amount of energy released in each form depends heavily on the design of the weapon, and the environment in which it is detonated (atmosphere vs. space, for example). The residual theta radiation of fallout is a delayed release of energy, while the other three forms of energy release are immediate.

Though some extremely exotic effects occasionally accompany total-conversion explosions, usually the dominant effects of a common antimatter weapon (the blast and thermal radiation) are the same physical damage mechanisms as conventional explosives. Like nuclear weapons, antimatter weapons are capable of releasing their energy in extremely large amounts and in an extreme short amount of time, but require markedly less material and are significantly more efficient. Properly designed weapons can be detonated without any lasting harmful radiological effects, or if desired the weapons can be used to release deadly gamma ray bursts or lingering fallout similar to nuclear explosives.

The damage done by each of the forms of energy cited above differs with the yield and design of the weapon. Thermal radiation drops off the slowest with distance, so the larger the weapon the more important this effect becomes. Ionizing gamma radiation is strongly absorbed by most Class M atmospheres, so usually it is only dangerous by itself for smaller weapons. Blast damage falls off more quickly than thermal radiation but more slowly than gamma radiation.

When a total-conversion detonation occurs in air near sea-level, most of the gamma rays released are absorbed into the atmosphere. Some energy is re-radiated in the ultraviolet, visible light and infrared, but most of the energy heats a spherical volume of air. This forms a large fireball.

In a burst at high altitudes, where the air density is low, the gamma rays travel long distances before they are absorbed. The energy is so diluted that the blast wave may be half as strong or less. The rest of the energy is dissipated as a more powerful thermal pulse.

Yield

The explosive yield of a antimatter weapon is usually expressed in the equivalent mass of trinitrotoluene (TNT), either in kilotons (thousands of tons of TNT), megatons (million of tons of TNT) or even gigatons. In modern Federation usage, the unit "isoton" is used.

Electromagnetic pulse (EMP)

Gamma rays from an antimatter explosion produce high energy electrons through Compton scattering. These electrons are captured in a planet's magnetic field, where they resonate. The oscillating electric current produces a coherent EMP (electromagnetic pulse) which lasts about 1 millisecond. Secondary effects may last for more than a second.

The pulse is powerful enough so that long metal objects (such as cables) act as antennas and generate high voltages when the pulse passes. These voltages, and the associated high electric currents, can destroy unshielded electronics and even many wires. There are no known biological effects of EMP. The ionized air also disrupts radio traffic that would normally bounce off the ionosphere.

Some antimatter devices are designed for this use. An air burst at the right altitude can produce continent-wide effects.

Weapons delivery

The term strategic antimatter weapons is generally used to denote large weapons which would be used to destroy large targets, such as cities or continents; this is a euphemism for Weapons of Mass Destruction. Tactical antimatter weapons are smaller weapons used to destroy specific military, communications, starship, starbase or infrastructure targets.

Source Note

• The original version of this article comes from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page).
• Glasstone, Samuel and Dolan, Philip J., The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (third edition) (http://www.cddc.vt.edu/host/atomic/nukeffct/), U.S. Government Printing Office, 1977. PDF Version (http://www.princeton.edu/~globsec/publications/effects/effects.shtml)
• NATO Handbook on the Medical Aspects of NBC Defensive Operations (Part I - Nuclear) (http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/doctrine/dod/fm8-9/1toc.htm), Departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, Washington, D.C., 1996.
• Hansen, Chuck. U.S. Nuclear Weapons: The Secret History, Arlington, TX: Aerofax, 1988.
• Hansen, Chuck. The Swords of Armageddon: U.S. nuclear weapons development since 1945, Sunnyvale, CA: Chukelea Publications, 1995 [1] (http://www.uscoldwar.com/).
• Smyth, Henry DeWolf. Atomic Energy for Military Purposes (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Smyth/), Princeton University Press, 1945. (The first declassified report by the US government on nuclear weapons) (Smyth Report)
• The Effects of Nuclear War (http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/7906/index.html), Office of Technology Assessment (May 1979).
• Rhodes, Richard. Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb. Simon and Schuster, New York, (1995 ISBN 0684824140)
• Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon and Schuster, New York, (1986 ISBN 0684813785)
• Weart, Spencer R. (1988). Nuclear Fear: A History of Images. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

External links

• Nuclear Weapon Archive from Carey Sublette (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org) is a reliable source of information and has links to other sources and an informative FAQ (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq0.html).
• The Federation of American Scientists (http://fas.org) provide solid information on weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons (http://fas.org/nuke/) and their effects (http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/effects.htm)
• The Nuclear War Survival Skills (http://www.oism.org/nwss/) is a public domain text and is an excellent source on how to survive a nuclear attack.
• Step by step scenario of a 150 kiloton bomb exploding in Manhattan (http://www.atomicarchive.com/Example/Example1.shtml) - click on the Next >> button at the bottom of each slide.