Gamma Ray Laser, possible? Superior Weapon?

[Snipez]

Nice try, foreign spy.

There's a reason this information is not online.

It is online. Found lots of information regarding current technologies leading in this field such as the free electron laser, the solid state and the chemical oxygen iodine laser. Specifics are more hidden though, usually behind subscription services - bypassed by academia log ins.

 

[sophiecentaur]

Back to Physics, Chaps!
Also, a question about the laser. When the light is coherent and in the same direction. Why is it that the waves don't superimpose each other? Or is it the fact that this does happen, but it is quite rare for a complete overlap so it is unnoticeable?

For coherent (laser) light, that's just what the waves from each emitting atom do. They are all in step because their emission has been stimulated by the wave that's already set up in the laser.

It always makes me smile because the output from a humble radio transmitter, transmitting a CW signal (continuous tone) is exactly the same and no one was ever overawed by the idea of the outputs from lots of vibrating charges (at a few MHz) being in phase for hours on end. But when it's light, they're astounded.

 

[Snipez]

For coherent (laser) light, that's just what the waves from each emitting atom do. They are all in step because their emission has been stimulated by the wave that's already set up in the laser.

It always makes me smile because the output from a humble radio transmitter, transmitting a CW signal (continuous tone) is exactly the same and no one was ever overawed by the idea of the outputs from lots of vibrating charges (at a few MHz) being in phase for hours on end. But when it's light, they're astounded.

I find it amazing that the stimulated change directs a photon in the same direction as the incident photon. How is this so? That is something I do find incredible, I'm guessing advanced statistics beyond the scope of this post =D?

 

[sophiecentaur]

It is online. Found lots of information regarding current technologies leading in this field such as the free electron laser, the solid state and the chemical oxygen iodine laser. Specifics are more hidden though, usually behind subscription services - bypassed by academia log ins.

Don't you guys expect for anything these days?

 

[Snipez]

Don't you guys expect for anything these days?

I do understand the wording of your statement. Sorry?

 

[sophiecentaur]

I do understand the wording of your statement. Sorry?

Woops - I meant to say "Don't you guys expect to pay for anything these days?" ( Sorry :Durr)

 

[sophiecentaur]

I find it amazing that the stimulated change directs a photon in the same direction as the incident photon. How is this so? That is something I do find incredible, I'm guessing advanced statistics beyond the scope of this post =D?

It would help if you avoided thinking that a little bullet (bad model of a photon) is shot out of an atom in a particular direction. All that happens is that the atom loses its energy to the passing wave because it has been stimulated to produce some energy that is coherent with the wave that's already there.

 

[d3mm]

It is online. Found lots of information regarding current technologies leading in this field such as the free electron laser, the solid state and the chemical oxygen iodine laser. Specifics are more hidden though, usually behind subscription services - bypassed by academia log ins.

Do you also believe Wikipedia tells you how to build a non-nuclear EMP weapon? How hard can it be to make a giant microwave? The answer is, they're still experimental after 20 or more years.

This thread touches on a lot of very "interesting" stuff in civil and military, for example, gamma ray shielding, which is an unsolved question important for long duration manned spaceflight.

SpaceX does not patent their spacerocket to prevent people reading the patent and copying it. Spacefligth stuff is protected by secrecy. Once you add military applications, it gets worse.

Someone who has worked in ths field (gamma ray weapons, and spaceship gamma shielding) is either going to remain silent or will *deliberately* provide credible sounding but false information, so you have to realize how speculative this thread is.

Addition: I'm not accusing people of writing false scientific papers, but the papers aren't the whole story.

 

[Enthalpy]

Random thoughts, corresponding to severals posts:

Free electron lasers operate in the soft X-rays up to now. If you put figures on them, it's very hard to go to the gamma with that method.

Lasers can operate without mirrors, in superradiant mode. Nitrogen lasers often do. No clean beam nor directivity.

A nuclear reactor needs a cold sink which limits the electric power to very little. A chemical source, for instance an airplane engine, can dump the heat with the exhaust gas.

Nuclear weapons have no relationship with missiles. The two last ones traveled by plane, present ones are mostly on cruise missiles (airplanes), the next ones may well travel in a cargo ship followed by an elevator. A serious defence would hence target the bombs, not missiles.

Electron orbitals cannot produce gamma rays because this is the definition of X-rays. Gammas require nucleus transitions.

As far as I ignore (a lot) X-ray lasers using deep electron transitions don't work, essentially because the surrounding matter is too opaque. Or you get rid of the matrix, have only lasing atoms which are then necessarily vaporized at each shot (even more so than for optical lasers) and have the proper source of power to invert the population. One old speculative description involved a tiny plutonium bomb surrounded by wires of heavy metal that lase in superradiant mode.

One laser using very soft nucleus transitions is to radiate in X energy. Seen the theoretical description 2 years (?) ago. This one would be reusable.

Some very limited gamma lasing effect has been observed using a beam of positrons impacting normal matter. I proposed elsewhere to sweep the beam impact at the speed of light so population inversion precedes shortly the light pulse. No idea if someone has tried.