Hydrogen bomb Edward Teller

despite offer norris bradbury, had replaced oppenheimer director of los alamos in november 1945, become head of theoretical (t) division, teller left los alamos on february 1, 1946, return university of chicago professor , close associate of fermi , goeppert-mayer. mayer s work on internal structure of elements earn nobel prize in physics in 1963.

physicists @ manhattan district-sponsored colloquium @ los alamos on super in april 1946. in front row (left right) norris bradbury, john manley, enrico fermi , j. m. b. kellogg. robert oppenheimer, in dark coat, behind manley; oppenheimer s left richard feynman. army officer on left colonel oliver haywood.

on april 18–20, 1946, teller participated in conference @ los alamos review wartime work on super. properties of thermonuclear fuels such deuterium , possible design of hydrogen bomb discussed. concluded teller s assessment of hydrogen bomb had been favourable, , both quantity of deuterium needed, radiation losses during deuterium burning, shed doubt on workability. addition of expensive tritium thermonuclear mixture lower ignition temperature, so, nobody knew @ time how tritium needed, , whether tritium addition encourage heat propagation.

at end of conference, in spite of opposition members such robert serber, teller submitted optimistic report in said hydrogen bomb feasible, , further work should encouraged on development. fuchs participated in conference, , transmitted information moscow. john von neumann, contributed idea of using implosion ignite super. model of teller s classical super uncertain oppenheimer later wished russians building own hydrogen bomb based on design, retard progress on it.

the teller–ulam design kept fission , fusion fuel physically separated 1 another, , used x-rays primary device reflected off surrounding casing compress secondary.

by 1949, soviet-backed governments had begun seizing control throughout eastern europe, forming such puppet states hungarian people s republic in teller s homeland of hungary, of family still lived, on august 20, 1949. following soviet union s first test detonation of atomic bomb on august 29, 1949, president harry truman announced crash development program hydrogen bomb.

teller returned los alamos in 1950 work on project. insisted on involving more theorists. many of teller s prominent colleagues, fermi , oppenheimer, sure project of h-bomb technically infeasible , politically undesirable. none of available designs yet workable. soviet scientists had worked on own hydrogen bomb have claimed developed independently.

in 1950, calculations polish mathematician stanislaw ulam , collaborator cornelius everett, along confirmations fermi, had shown not teller s earlier estimate of quantity of tritium needed h-bomb low one, higher amounts of tritium, energy loss in fusion process great enable fusion reaction propagate. however, in 1951 teller , ulam made breakthrough, , invented new design, proposed in classified march 1951 paper, on heterocatalytic detonations i: hydrodynamic lenses , radiation mirrors, practical megaton-range h-bomb. exact contribution provided respectively ulam , teller became known teller–ulam design not definitively known in public domain, , exact contributions of each , how final idea arrived upon has been point of dispute in both public , classified discussions since 1950s.

in interview scientific american 1999, teller told reporter:

i contributed; ulam did not. m sorry had answer in abrupt way. ulam rightly dissatisfied old approach. came me part of idea had worked out , had difficulty getting people listen to. willing sign paper. when came defending paper , putting work it, refused. said, don t believe in it.

the issue controversial. bethe considered teller s contribution invention of h-bomb true innovation 1952, , referred work stroke of genius in 1954. in both cases, however, bethe emphasized teller s role way of stressing development of h-bomb not have been hastened additional support or funding, , teller disagreed bethe s assessment. other scientists (antagonistic teller, such j. carson mark) have claimed teller have never gotten closer without assistance of ulam , others. ulam himself claimed teller produced more generalized version of ulam s original design.

the breakthrough—the details of still classified—was apparently separation of fission , fusion components of weapons, , use x-rays produced fission bomb first compress fusion fuel (by process known radiation implosion ) before igniting it. ulam s idea seems have been use mechanical shock primary encourage fusion in secondary, while teller realized x-rays primary job more symmetrically. members of laboratory (j. carson mark in particular) later expressed opinion idea use x-rays have occurred working on physical processes involved, , obvious reason why teller thought of right away because working on greenhouse tests spring of 1951, in effect of x-rays fission bomb on mixture of deuterium , tritium going investigated.

whatever actual components of so-called teller–ulam design , respective contributions of worked on it, after proposed seen scientists working on project answer had been long sought. had doubted whether fission-fusion bomb feasible @ converted believing matter of time before both usa , ussr had developed multi-megaton weapons. oppenheimer, opposed project, called idea technically sweet.

the 10.4 mt ivy mike shot of 1952 appeared vindicate teller s long-time advocacy hydrogen bomb.

though had helped come design , had been long-time proponent of concept, teller not chosen head development project (his reputation of thorny personality played role in this). in 1952 left los alamos , joined newly established livermore branch of university of california radiation laboratory, had been created largely through urging. after detonation of ivy mike, first thermonuclear weapon utilize teller–ulam configuration, on november 1, 1952, teller became known in press father of hydrogen bomb. teller himself refrained attending test—he claimed not feel welcome @ pacific proving grounds—and instead saw results on seismograph in basement of hall in berkeley.

there opinion analyzing fallout test, soviets (led in h-bomb work andrei sakharov) have deciphered new american design. however, later denied soviet bomb researchers. because of official secrecy, little information bomb s development released government, , press reports attributed entire weapon s design , development teller , new livermore laboratory (when developed los alamos).

many of teller s colleagues irritated seemed enjoy taking full credit had part in, , in response, encouragement enrico fermi, teller authored article titled work of many people, appeared in science magazine in february 1955, emphasizing not alone in weapon s development. later write in memoirs had told white lie in 1955 article in order soothe ruffled feelings , , claimed full credit invention.

teller known getting engrossed in projects theoretically interesting practically unfeasible (the classic super 1 such project.) work on hydrogen bomb, bethe said:

nobody blame teller because calculations of 1946 wrong, because adequate computing machines not available @ los alamos. blamed @ los alamos leading laboratory, , indeed whole country, adventurous programme on basis of calculations, himself must have known have been incomplete.

during manhattan project, teller advocated development of bomb using uranium hydride, many of fellow theorists said unlikely work. @ livermore, teller continued work on hydride bomb, , result dud. ulam once wrote colleague idea had shared teller: edward full of enthusiasm these possibilities; perhaps indication not work. fermi once said teller monomaniac knew had several manias.

carey sublette of nuclear weapon archive argues ulam came radiation implosion compression design of thermonuclear weapons, on other hand teller has gotten little credit being first propose fusion boosting in 1945, essential miniaturization , reliability , used in of today s nuclear weapons.