🚀 go-pugleaf

>>>>> On Thursday, 7 Jan 1993 12:03:40 PST, Jon J Thaler <DOCTORJ@SLACVM.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU> said:
Jon> This is about 13 orders of magnitude larger than the total number of
Jon> antiprotons ever created and stored (about 10**14)

Well, nobody said it would be easy!

Current antiproton production is geared towards physics, not
rocketry.  It is probably possible to create antimatter more
efficiently if that is the primary goal. However the energy cost is
huge because conservation tells you that you only create antimatter
with at least E=mc^2 input energy.  Think of the antiprotons as very
high energy density batteries!

So, even assuming 100% conversion efficiency, 1kg of antimatter =
10^19 Joules, or about 300 years output from a 1GW coal or nuclear
power station, to produce. It will release twice this amount when
mixed with ordinary matter.

Now if we could generate antiprotons with better than 50% efficiency,
we have an inexhaustible energy supply......  

Anyone have estimates on the realistic estimates on achievable
conversion efficiency?  10^4?

Greg.
--
Gregory Bond <gnb@bby.com.au> Burdett Buckeridge & Young Ltd Melbourne Australia
			Dizzy Gillespie: RIP.