Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2022 December 3

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December 3

Antimatter bomb

Would one of those theoretical bombs that theoretically work by colliding antimatter with an equal amount of matter (assuming that anyone would be insane enough to build a bomb that would just blow up if it malfunctioned while in storage in the first place) produce radiation and fallout when it exploded? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.200.126.234 (talk) 23:23, 3 December 2022 (UTC)

Most energy would be released in the form of gamma rays and (anti-)muons, not as neutrons, which can activate surrounding materials, and there won't be fission products. So, a big flash of radiation when the bomb explodes, but not much fallout. I wouldn't say no fallout, but it won't be as bad as in current thermonuclear weapons. PiusImpavidus (talk) 10:15, 4 December 2022 (UTC)

What are we comparing? The theoretical explosive yield of 1 kg of ²³⁹Pu is about 75×10¹² J. That of 1 kg of antimatter is more like 180×10¹⁵ J, 2,500 times as much. The irradiation of not-annihilated matter will initially produce a substantial amount of quark–gluon plasma that, when it cools off, phase-transitions into baryonic matter of a composition I cannot guess, but which, AFAIK, may well be quite radioactive.  --Lambiam 13:00, 4 December 2022 (UTC)