Preface
A note on units
Acknowledgements
Author biography
1 The background
1.1 The physics
1.2 The Manhattan Project
References
2 Nuclear fission
2.1 Energy release in fission
2.2 Chain reaction timescale
2.3 Temperature equivalent of fission fragments
2.4 A first glimpse of the efficiency issue
2.5 Neutron pairing energy, the fission barrier, and plutonium
2.6 Decay mechanisms and the (α, n) problem
2.7 Spontaneous fission
References
3 Criticality and efficiency
3.1 Bare criticality
3.2 Supercriticality and the radius-density effect
3.3 Tamped criticality
3.4 Efficiency
References
4 Obtaining fissile material
4.1 U-235: the electromagnetic method
4.2 U-235: the gaseous diffusion method
4.3 Pu-239: the Hanford reactors
References
5 Los Alamos, Little Boy, Fat Man, Trinity, Hiroshima and
Nagasaki
5.1 Predetonation probability
5.2 Little Boy
5.3 Implosion and Fat Man
5.4 Yield probability
5.5 Trinity
5.6 Hiroshima and Nagasaki
References
6 Effects of nuclear weapons
6.1 Brightness and thermal radiation
6.2 Shock wave
6.3 Neutron scattering
6.4 A brief tutorial on radioactivity and radiation exposure units
6.5 Prompt radioactivity from a nuclear weapon
References
7 Legacy
7.1 Postwar proliferation, tests, and deployments
7.2 Nuclear arms treaties and the baggage of the Cold War
7.3 Final thoughts
References
8 Bibliography
Glossary of Symbols
编辑手记