View source for Antimatter weapon

{{short description|Theoretical weapon using antimatter}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2020}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Antimatter}}
{{Weapons of mass destruction}}
An '''antimatter weapon''' is a theoretically possible device using [[antimatter]] as a power source, a [[propellant]], or an explosive for a [[weapon]]. Antimatter weapons are currently too costly and unreliable to be viable in warfare, as producing antimatter is enormously expensive (estimated at US$6 billion for every 100 [[nanograms]]), the quantities of antimatter generated are very small, and current technology has great difficulty containing antimatter, which annihilates upon touching ordinary matter.<ref name="sfgate.com" />

The paramount advantage of such a theoretical weapon is that antimatter and matter collisions result in the entire sum of their [[mass energy equivalence|mass energy equivalent]] being released as energy, which is at least two orders of magnitude greater than the energy release of the most efficient [[Thermonuclear weapon|fusion weapons]] (100% vs 0.4–1%).<ref>{{cite news|access-date=2020-03-05|title=Fusion Fuel|url=http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/fusionfuel.php|website=atomic rockets}}</ref> [[Annihilation]] requires and converts exactly equal masses of antimatter and matter by the collision which releases the entire mass-energy of both, which for 1 gram is ~9×10<sup>13</sup> [[Joule|joules]]. Using the convention that 1 kiloton [[TNT equivalent]] equals 4.184×10<sup>12</sup> joules (or one trillion calories of energy), one half gram of antimatter reacting with one half gram of ordinary matter (one gram total) results in 21.5 kilotons-equivalent of energy (the same as the [[Fat Man|atomic bomb]] dropped on [[Nagasaki]] in 1945).<ref>{{cite news |access-date=2020-03-05|title=Antimatter Fuel|url=http://www.projectrho.com/public_html/rocket/antimatterfuel.php|website=atomic rockets}}</ref>

==Cost==
{{As of|2024|July}}, the cost of producing one millionth of a gram of antimatter was estimated at {{nobr|US $62 billion}}.<ref name="sfgate.com">{{cite web |date=4 October 2004 |title=Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons / Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order |url=http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Air-Force-pursuing-antimatter-weapons-Program-2689674.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229183617/http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Air-Force-pursuing-antimatter-weapons-Program-2689674.php |archive-date=29 December 2014 |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |access-date=17 January 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=McKeown |first=Matthew |date=18 December 2023 |title=Antimatter Tops List Of World's Most Expensive Material At $62 Trillion Per Gram |url=https://www.trillmag.com/news/science/antimatter-tops-list-of-worlds-most-expensive-material-at-62-trillion-per-gram/}}</ref> By way of comparison, the cost of the [[Manhattan Project]] (to produce the first atomic bomb) is estimated at US$23 billion in 2007 prices.<ref name=autogenerated2>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history-of-nuclear-testing/manhattan-project|title=Manhattan Project|access-date=17 January 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228200033/http://www.ctbto.org/nuclear-testing/history-of-nuclear-testing/manhattan-project|archive-date=28 December 2014}}</ref> As such, [[Hui Chen]] of [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] dismissed concerns about antimatter bombs in 2008 as "unrealistic".<ref name="nbc">{{cite news |title=Laser technique produces bevy of antimatter |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna27998860 |access-date=24 May 2022 |work=NBC News |date=1 December 2008 |language=en}}</ref>

==Antimatter-catalyzed weapons==
[[Antimatter-catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion]] proposes the use of antimatter as a "trigger"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cui.unige.ch/isi/sscr/phys/anti-BPP-3.html|title=Antimatter weapons|website=cui.unige.ch|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424174413/http://cui.unige.ch/isi/sscr/phys/anti-BPP-3.html|archive-date=24 April 2013}}</ref> to initiate small nuclear explosions; the explosions provide thrust to a spacecraft. The same technology could theoretically be used to make very small and possibly "fission-free" (very low [[nuclear fallout]]) weapons (see [[pure fusion weapon]]).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUk5DAAAQBAJ&q=thermonuclear+arbitrarily+high+number+of+stages&pg=PT241|title=Tools of War: History of Weapons in Modern Times|first=Syed|last=Ramsey|date=12 May 2016|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=9789386019837|access-date=4 May 2018|via=Google Books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170816184655/https://books.google.com/books?id=aUk5DAAAQBAJ&pg=PT241&lpg=PT241&dq=thermonuclear+arbitrarily+high+number+of+stages&source=bl&ots=y3fH57GESs&sig=F4qT3k7qICbrNUuH85a4pXY2G9Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjUtfPXm7bTAhXiAJoKHftZAIkQ6AEIUjAG#v=onepage&q=thermonuclear+arbitrarily+high+number+of+stages&f=false|archive-date=16 August 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/09/details-on-antimatter-triggered-fusion.html|title=Details on antimatter triggered fusion bombs - NextBigFuture.com|date=22 September 2015|website=nextbigfuture.com|access-date=4 May 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422125419/http://www.nextbigfuture.com/2015/09/details-on-antimatter-triggered-fusion.html|archive-date=22 April 2017}}</ref>

==In popular culture==
An antimatter weapon is a part of the plot of the [[Dan Brown]] book ''[[Angels & Demons]]'' and its [[Angels & Demons (film)|film adaptation]], where it is used in a plot to blow up the [[Vatican City]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Delphine |title=Angels & Demons: The Physics Behind The Movie (and The Book) |url=https://www.wired.com/2011/10/angels-demons-the-physics-behind-the-movie-and-the-book/ |access-date=13 March 2021 |magazine=Wired |language=en-us}}</ref>

The ''Ground Zero'' expansion pack of the video game ''[[Quake II]]'' requires the protagonist to manufacture an Antimatter Bomb in the Munitions Plant to achieve the final objective.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoBqH18_Bzc |title=QUAKE 2: Ground Zero {{!}} Part 25 {{!}} Anti-Matter Bomb |date=2020-09-23 |last=Degorram |access-date=2024-08-02 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

In the ''[[Star Trek]]'' franchise, [[United Federation of Planets|Federation]] starships are armed with [[photon torpedo]]es which contain antimatter warheads.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitfild |first1=Stephen E. |last2=Roddenberry |first2=Gene |title=The Making of Star Trek |date=1991 |publisher=Ballantine Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=0345340191 |edition=Twenty-seventh Print}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071007122939/http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/Content/Chapters/Spotlight/SpotlightAandD-en.html Spotlight on "Angels and Demons"] – A discussion at CERN's public website on the viability of the use of antimatter for energy and weaponry
* [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/10/04/MNGM393GPK1.DTL "Air Force pursuing antimatter weapons: Program was touted publicly, then came official gag order"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120609101650/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F10%2F04%2FMNGM393GPK1.DTL |date=9 June 2012 }}
* [http://cui.unige.ch/isi/sscr/phys/anti-BPP-3.html Page discussing the possibility of using antimatter as a trigger for a thermonuclear explosion]
* [http://www.arxiv.org/abs/physics/0507114 Paper discussing the number of antiprotons required to ignite a thermonuclear weapon]

{{Weapons}}
{{emerging technologies|topics=yes|military=yes}}
{{Doomsday}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antimatter Weapon}}
[[Category:Antimatter|Weapon]]
[[Category:Proposed weapons]]
[[Category:Science fiction weapons]]
[[Category:Weapons of mass destruction]]